Problematic Use of Internet and Internet Gaming Correlation with Nicotine Use among a Sample of University Students

Abstract

Addiction is a medical condition characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences (Angres & Bettinardi-Angres, 2008). It is considered a disorder of the brain's reward system which arises through transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms and occurs over time from chronically high levels of exposure to an addictive stimulus (Ruffle, 2014). Recently, there has been an interesting clinical and scientific shift in perspective with many believing that addiction should encompass the compulsive engagement in activities such as smoking, Internet use, and gaming, in addition to its conventional relation with pharmacologic rewards (Grant et al., 2006). Many studies have been completed to try to ascertain the prevalence of substance and behavioral addictions and the co-occurrence of two or more addictions. All of them suggested that addictions are sharing a similar neurobiological vulnerability.