Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire PIUQ-18

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What is PIUQ-18

The Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) is a useful assessment tool for measuring problems in connection with Internet use. It contains three subscales: obsession, neglect, and control disorder.

PIUQ-18 Printable PDF

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PIUQ-18 Scoring and Interpretation

Total score can be calculated by adding up all 18 items and it ranges from 18 to 90. If the total score equals or exceeds 41 points, the respondent can be considered to be at risk of problematic Internet use. Subscale scores can be calculated by adding up the items belonging to the respective subscale. Both the subscale scores and the total score can be used in their continuous forms as well.

Subscales

Obsession: Questions 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16

Neglect: Questions 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17

Control disorder: Questions 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18

If the total score equals or exceeds 41 points, the respondent can be considered to be at risk of problematic Internet use.

Means, Standard Deviations

Table 4
Scale/Subscale	M	SD
Obsession	7.3	2.6
Neglect	8.0	2.8
Control disorder	7.9	2.7

PsyPack can automatically score the PIUQ-18 assessment and prepare corresponding tables and graphs.

Further, PsyPack automatically plots a graph to help you easily track progress over time.

Sample Report of PIUQ-18

Domain

Internet addiction

What does PIUQ-18 measure

The purpose of the evaluation is to:

measure problematic Internet use or Internet addiction.

Administration

Self-administered

Type of outcome tool

Clinical

Assessment modes

Questionnaire

Age and eligibility

Adults

Estimated time

Less than 5 minutes

Notes

Since the questionnaire relies on client self-report, all responses should be verified by the clinician, and a definitive diagnosis is made on clinical grounds taking into account how well the client understood the questionnaire, as well as other relevant information from the client.

The term Internet addiction should be reserved for the description of excessive Internet use with clinical significance and must be separated from problematic use in general. The former requires clinical attention, whereas the latter—although several problems in everyday life are indicated—can be considered a symptomatic behavior. Research of the authors and previous studies indicate that the majority of people who use the Internet in an excessive degree do not have problems that are so serious as to require clinical attention and be called an Internet addiction. Moreover, the observed phenomenon is often temporary. The gravity of the problems may decrease with time.

Attribution and References

Demetrovics, Z., Szeredi, B. & Rózsa, S. The three-factor model of Internet addiction: The development of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire. Behavior Research Methods 40, 563–574 (2008).

Archived link

Koronczai, B., Urbán, R., Kökönyei, G., Paksi, B., Papp, K., Kun, B., Arnold, P. Kállai, J., Demetrovics, Z. (2011). Confirmation of the three-factor model of problematic internet use on off-line adolescent and adult samples. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(11), 657-664.

Archived link