A review of recent research in problematic internet use: gender and cultural differences

The present study reviewed current trends in the literature on problematic Internet use. The review included a total of 48 studies published within the last two years and covered by the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Despite frequently investigated in the literature, results of the studies suggest that there is still much to be unveiled regarding problematic Internet use and its relation to gender and cultural differences. In terms of gender, although more studies show that men are further vulnerable to problematic Internet use symptoms, results differ regarding the moderator effect(s) or differences in various cultural settings. Recent studies mostly employed quantitative methods; but, it is also noted that problematic Internet use studies increasingly focus on meta-analysis and literature reviews. Research also tends to investigate large-sample cross-cultural groups, but their results are far from achieving consensus. Studies mostly used cross-sectional approaches with self-report instruments and focused on adolescents and young adults who were students.