Internet addiction & attachment styles

Abstract

Excessive internet usage has increased at an alarming rate in the recent past such that Internet Addiction is one of the most researched behavioural addiction nowadays. So many new cases have been reported of individuals addicted to internet who are impacting there personal, social and occupational life. A lot of them reported feeling lonely, had poor self-esteem, disturbed emotional ties with others, and didn’t have friend’s offline. In the light of that, the current review paper examines the role of attachment and attachment styles on internet addiction. Attachment styles are formed based on early childhood experiences which take form of internal working models as individual grows up. Internet addiction is a maladaptive coping strategy reflecting an inability to handle one’s emotions. It is important to understand different models of internet addiction & its diagnostic criteria to better understand how different attachment styles impact internet addiction.