Sumerianz Journal of Social Science, 2021, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 19-31 ISSN(e): 2616-8693, ISSN(p): 2617-1716 Website: https://www.sumerianz.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.47752/sjss.41.19.31 © Sumerianz Publication CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 Original Article Open Access *Corresponding Author 19 19 Exploring the Awareness, Motivations, and Coping Strategies of Problematic Internet Users Hasah Alheneidi Centre for Occupational and Health Psychology School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 63 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AS, UK Andrew P. Smith * Centre for Occupational and Health Psychology School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 63 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AS, UK Email: smithap@cardiff.ac.uk Article History Received: January 7, 2021 Revised: February 10, 2021 Accepted: February 14, 2021 Published: February 17, 2021 Abstract This paper presents a systematic review that covers internet addiction and wellbeing studies on adults; followed by a semi-structured interview of a group of 6 problematic internet adult users, analysed through thematic analysis. The interview questions explore motives, awareness level and coping strategies of problematic internet users. The systematic review results are categorised based on DRIVE model and indicate gaps in the literature on internet addiction studies and suggests a holistic direction of studying wellbeing. The interviews resulted in 6 themes that reflected the user‟s awareness of the consequences of problematic internet use, coping strategies when there is a high information overload, controlling internet attachment, causes of excessive internet use, preferred using time and psychological effect after spending long hours online. Keywords: Internet addiction; Problematic internet use; Wellbeing; Qualitative study. 1. Introduction In the present time, where there is often information overload, it is necessary and useful to have a clear image of what is seen as internet addiction (IA) or problematic internet use (PIU). Since the 1990s, the internet has become the most used and relayed information source in our everyday lives. Excessive internet use has resulted in neglecting social activities, work responsibilities and health consequences. Psychologists and researchers identified those problematic behaviours as internet addiction (Young, 1998), PIU (Davis, 2001), and compulsive internet use (Meerkerk et al., 2009). Although multiple terms and measures have evolved to assess internet addiction, it is generally described in terms of symptoms related to addiction such as obsessive and compulsive use, withdrawal signs, and impairment of life activities. Young (1998), for example, developed the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) measure using gambling addiction criteria from DSM 5 to measure internet addiction. Recent studies have found that internet addiction and PIU are associated with conditions such as emotional instability, loneliness, social withdrawal, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and other addictive behaviours. The consequences of internet addiction can be severe; excessive internet use has the potential to cause career failure, marriage breakdown, as well as a financial crisis, with negative psychosocial effects. However, it is uncertain whether problematic internet use leads to social and psychological impairments or whether social and psychological issues cause the PIU. Understanding this causality is important to solve the root cause of the behaviour. Although internet addiction is largely recognised by psychologists and researchers as a problematic behaviour pattern, it is still not documented in the DSM-5. Many psychologists view PIU as a set of behaviours that may reflect an underlying psychiatric disorder such as depression or social withdrawal. More research is being conducted in the area aimed at determining whether internet addiction should be defined as a separate disorder with a distinctive treatment programme. This article provides a review of internet addiction and wellbeing, followed by results from interviews aimed at exploring the awareness, motivations, and coping strategies of problematic internet users. 1.1. Internet Addiction Systematic Review Method Pubmed and Psycinfo databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English that addressed the association between internet addiction and wellbeing in adults. Selected studies were published in a time range that spanned the years 2000-2017. Studies were selected based on their relation to the association of wellbeing, mental health and internet addiction. Studies on adolescents were excluded, as were those on online gaming addiction disorder studies which has been classified as a separate disorder. Qualitative, quantitative and case studies were considered. The following search terms were used: “compulsive internet use,” “internet addiction,” “problematic internet use*,” “wellbeing,” “mental health,” and “wellbeing”. After duplicates were excluded there were 146 results for internet addiction and wellbeing. The first author read all abstracts and full text of relevant articles. In the conducted review, a total of 35 empirical studies were identified.