Internet addiction: hours spent online, behaviors and psychological symptoms.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate psychopathological symptoms, behaviors and hours spent online in patients with internet addiction disorder (IAD) at a new psychiatric service for IAD inside a policlinic.

Method: Eighty-six subjects participated in the study. Thirty-three patients asking for psychiatric consultation regarding their excessive use of the internet were assessed with IAD interview, internet addiction test (IAT), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and a brief sociodemographic survey.