Researchers at Stanford University have discovered what they say is more evidence that compulsive use of the Internet may be more than just a bad habit.

"Potential markers of problematic Internet use seem present in a sizable proportion of adults," the researchers concluded in an article published in CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine.

"This is the largest study by far to try to understand how widespread this problem might be," lead author of the article, Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford University's school of medicine, told TechNewsWorld.

Need Their Net

Through a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 2,513 adults in the United States, the Stanford team found that of the almost 70 percent of respondents who were Internet users, 13.7 percent found it hard to stay away from the Net for more than several days at a time.

That number is higher than that seen in prior research on the problem, according to Hilarie Cash, co-founder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Wash. "Earlier research had shown about six percent of the population struggling with this," she told TechNewsWorld.

The researchers also discovered that 8.7 percent of Web users in the survey attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employees.

"One sign of addiction is secrecy, hiding, lying about it," Cash observed.

Disorder or Symptom?

Now that they've unearthed significant signs of problematic use of the Internet by a significant proportion of Netsters, the researchers said more inquiry must be performed to hash out whether Internet addition is an independent disorder or the symptom of other psychopathologies.

"If it's a symptom of other disorders, such as depression, then treating those disorders should help treat the Internet behavior,"