Seventeen percent of 185 individuals who completed the survey, designed by a UB doctoral student, said they spend more than 40 hours per week on the Net, although it is not known what percentage of that time is job-related.

Scores that participants were assigned based on their answers to questions about Internet use interfering with other activities indicated that almost all of them at some time have exhibited some addiction-like behaviors related to their use of the Net.

"The survey shows that there is a subgroup of people who, as a result of Internet use, experience more interference than normal with their other roles in life," said Viktor Brenner, a UB doctoral student in psychology.

"The survey is important because at this time, there are no other data available about the psychological effects of Internet usage. There does seem to be such a thing as Internet 'addiction' and we need to look at it more closely."

A total of 408 users visited the survey site on the World Wide Web in its first 30 days, resulting in the completion of 185 valid surveys.

Brenner explained that although "addiction" may not be the most accurate way to describe excessive use of the Internet because physical dependency cannot develop, it has become an accepted term.

He noted that "Internet addiction" might be closest to pathological gambling in that both are a behavioral failure to resist an impulse that leads to interference with a user's roles in life, such as those concerning family, friends and employment.

He added that because participants themselves chose to be part of the survey, its results must be interpreted with caution.

The survey includes questions about the respondent's background and then asks how much time he or she spends on different parts of the Net and whether or not their use of the Net has interfered with other things they were planning to do. Each response that indicated such interference counted as one point toward the total score.

"The high number of hours users averaged online-more than 20-suggests that most people who use the Internet use it a lot," Brenner said.

Almost everyone who answered the survey seems to have exhibited some addiction-like behaviors related to their Internet use at some point, with 89 percent scoring above five on the survey and the average score ranging between 10 and 11.

"For that to be the norm suggests that most people who use the Internet use it a lot and, at some time, it has interfered with something else they were going to do," he said. "Only one person scored a zero, which showed that they had no evidence of such behavioral interference."

Brenner was surprised to discover that about 40 percent of respondents had tried to meet in-person individuals they had met through the Net.

Other results included:

• Users spent an average of 21 hours per week on-line.
• • Nearly half felt that their work may have suffered as a result of their time on-line.
  • Fewer than 10 percent reported getting into trouble with employers or schools as a result of their Internet use.
  • The average survey respondent was 32 years old and twice as likely to be male as female.

  While the responses showed that many people who use the Net may allow it to interfere with their other roles in life, no clear pattern emerged of an addicted Internet user, according to Brenner.

  That finding, he added, may be intrinsically related to the nature of the Net.

  "Because there are so many things to do on the Internet, and because it appeals to so many people with so many different interests, there is probably not a single pattern that describes people who are abusers," he said.

  Brenner, whose eclectic background includes work with anxiety disorders and managed-care issues, designed the survey based on his clinical knowledge of alcohol and drug addiction. He is currently employed at the Marquette University Counseling Center.

  Brenner's Internet usage survey may be accessed by pointing any graphics-based World Wide Web browser to http://www.mu.edu/de pt/ccenter/intro_srv.html.

  The results may be accessed by pointing your browser to http://www.ccsnet.com/prep and connecting to the psychology preprint bulletin board.