21 September 2018: Seminar by Boshra T. Haghighi, AUT, "Evaluation of Internet Addiction and Self-Manage Productive Use of Internet"

STEMTEC Seminar Series, 2018

Where: WT121 Note different room
When: Friday 21 September 2018, 12noon-1pm

Evaluation of Internet Addiction and Self-Manage Productive Use of Internet

Boshra T. Haghighi (AUT)

ABSTRACT

Excessive usage of the Internet is known to cause physical health problems (e.g. gaining/losing weight; exhaustion; dehydration; carpal tunnel syndrome; and deep vein thrombosis); and mental health problems (e.g. sleep deprivation and depression) which could eventually lead to Internet Addiction disorder (IA). The Internet can be regarded as a refuge from the unpleasant real world for users, but problems start when it begins interfering into the user’s lifestyle. It may result in borrowing time from routine daily activities to stay online more than intended. Extreme cases of IA, in many cases, are associated with loss of life, job loss and divorce. Existing evaluation methods heavily consider psychological factors and are based on users’ self-report or their families’ reports through prevalent symptoms. Most research actively involved in diagnosis and addressing problematical Internet used are limited to survey instruments (either by interviews or questionnaires) and the purpose of the Internet use is not evaluated.

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For queries on the seminar series, contact Robin Hankin, rhankin@aut.ac.nz

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How are survey-based methods reliable if the nature of Internet usage is not considered? With regards to the fact that negative repercussions and “lying” are symptoms of problematical Internet use, how can we trust self-report measurement tools? Considering the negative impacts of this phenomenon, it is important to promote a validated evaluation system which would help associated parties, such as users, families and therapists to self- manage productive use of Internet and minimize non-productive Internet usage.

  • How can we know that Internet use can become non-productive?
  • What can we do about it?
  • What can users do to manage their use of Internet?
  • How the intervention strategies can help self-management to be more productive and mitigate problematic Internet use?

Biography

Boshra T. Haghighi received the BSc (Hons.) of Computer Science and Master of InformationTechnology from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia (2010 and 2013 respectively). At the time of commencing her Master's research, she started working as a research fellow and teaching assistant in the college of Information Technology at UNITEN. She is currently a teaching assistant and working on her Ph.D research in the School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences at AUT. Her research is about evaluation of Internet addiction, and to model a self-manage intervention that helps minimising problematical Internet use. Her publications centred around Internet addiction and Artificial Intelligence.