Internet Addiction Test

The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), developed by Dr.

Questions: 20
Duration: 8 min
Original title: IAT — Internet Addiction Test
Adaptation: Internet Addiction Test
Authors: Young, K. S.
Created: 1998

The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), developed by Dr. Kimberly Young, is one of the most widely recognized self-report measures for evaluating problematic internet use in adults and adolescents. As digital environments become increasingly immersive, recognizing the boundary between heavy use and compulsive dependency is a common clinical challenge. This instrument helps clinicians quantify the behavioral and emotional impact of internet use on a patient's life.

Using a multidimensional approach, the measure captures core features of behavioral addiction. These include cognitive salience, withdrawal symptoms, tolerance, and the neglect of occupational or social responsibilities. By providing a structured framework to assess these dimensions, the tool facilitates a more accurate understanding of the patient's digital habits.

Integrating this validated questionnaire into clinical practice allows for systematic baseline assessment and progress monitoring. Whether used during intake or as a regular checkpoint, it offers an objective metric to guide treatment planning and support adaptive versus maladaptive coping discussions in therapy.

Example result

Fictitious result, computed from a sample set of answers.

Overall score

46/ 100

The IAT is a 20-item self-report questionnaire developed by Kimberly Young (1998) that measures excessive and problematic Internet use. It assesses the impact of Internet use on daily life, social relationships, occupational or academic performance, mood, and sleep. Suitable for adolescents and adults, it yields an overall score ranging from 0 to 100, placing the user on a continuum from controlled use to severe addiction. The French version was validated by Khazaal et al. (2008).

0–30

Normal use

31–49

Mild problematic use

50–79

Moderate problematic use

80–100

Severe problematic use

Occasionally excessive time online, overall control maintained.

Scoring

Sum, total score from 0 to 100, each item is scored on a 6-point scale (from 0 to 5).

Salience / preoccupation

10/ 25

Pervasive presence of the Internet in thoughts and daily life.

items 10, 12, 13, 15, 19

025

Anticipation

4/ 10

Anticipation and impatience for the next online session.

items 7, 11

010

Neglect of work/studies

8/ 15

Repercussions of Internet use on work or studies.

items 6, 8, 9

015

Excessive use

8/ 25

Time spent online exceeding initial intentions.

items 1, 2, 14, 18, 20

025

Neglect of social life

5/ 10

Neglect of offline relationships and activities in favor of the Internet.

items 3, 4

010

Lack of control

11/ 15

Difficulty reducing or discontinuing Internet use.

items 5, 16, 17

015

Have your patient take this test

Assign it in one click: your patient answers on their phone, you receive the score and its interpretation.

Assign this test to a patient

What the test measures

The Internet Addiction Test assesses the severity of compulsive online behavior across several functional and psychological domains. It evaluates how internet use disrupts daily routines and emotional stability.

Cognitive salience: The degree to which the internet dominates the patient's thoughts, including anticipation of the next session and mental preoccupation when offline.
Loss of control: The inability to restrict or manage time spent online despite repeated efforts to cut down.
Functional impairment: The negative impact on real-world obligations, such as neglected household chores or compromised academic and occupational performance.
Emotional regulation: The reliance on digital spaces to manage mood, often creating automatic behaviors that reinforce the dependency cycle.
Social disruption: The tendency to isolate from real-world relationships, which can often be addressed through structured social self-care activities.

This instrument is validated for adolescents and adults who present with concerns about their digital habits or screen-related functional decline.

When and why to use it

Clinicians utilize this measure to objectify the severity of problematic internet use and to clarify its role in the patient's broader clinical picture. It is particularly useful when digital habits appear to complicate other mental health concerns.

Baseline screening: To quantify the severity of compulsive internet use during an initial evaluation, especially when patients or family members raise concerns about screen time.
Differential exploration: To help distinguish primary internet dependency from secondary coping mechanisms, such as when evaluating burnout or trying to address action inertia in depression.
Treatment monitoring: To track changes in digital habits over time and evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral interventions aimed at restoring functional balance.
Psychoeducational support: To provide concrete data that helps patients recognize the impact of their habits, which can be particularly useful when exploring family dynamics or discussing children's screen addiction.

A validated score provides a concrete anchor for clinical discussions, offering a more precise evaluation than subjective reports of time spent online.

Clinical library

750+ clinical tools

A library built with and for clinicians, ready to use in session and extend between appointments.

Access all the tools

Several resource types

Psychoeducation handouts

Understand at a glance

Interactive exercises

To do and fill in

Interactive programs

A structured path

Audios

Meditation and relaxation

Psychometric tests

Automatic scoring

The questions

To assess your level of internet addiction, please answer the following 20 questions using the provided response scale. Choose the response that best describes your situation. This test does not replace an evaluation by a healthcare professional.
1. How often do you find yourself staying online longer than you originally intended?
Evaluates the patient's subjective loss of time awareness during digital engagement.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
2. How often do you neglect household chores to spend more time online?
Assesses the prioritization of online activities over basic domestic responsibilities.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
3. How often do you prefer the excitement of the internet to intimacy with your partner?
Probes the impact of digital engagement on real-world intimate relationships.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
4. How often do you form new relationships with online users?
Explores the tendency to substitute physical social networks with digital connections.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
5. How often do others in your life complain to you about the amount of time you spend online?
Captures external feedback from the patient's social circle regarding their screen time.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
6. How often do your grades or schoolwork suffer from the amount of time you spend online?
Measures the direct negative consequences of internet use on academic performance.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
7. How often do you check your email before doing something else that you need to do?
Evaluates the compulsive prioritization of digital checks over necessary daily tasks.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
8. How often does your job performance or productivity suffer because of the internet?
Assesses the degree of occupational impairment caused by digital distractions.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
9. How often are you defensive or secretive when anyone asks you what you do online?
Probes the presence of defensive or secretive behavior surrounding online activities.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
10. How often do you block out disturbing thoughts about your life with soothing thoughts of being online?
Explores the use of digital immersion as a coping mechanism for real-world distress.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
11. How often do you find yourself anticipating when you will go online again?
Evaluates the psychological craving and cognitive anticipation of future internet use.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
12. How often do you fear that life without the internet would be boring, empty, and joyless?
Assesses emotional dependency and the perception of life as empty without digital access.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
13. How often do you snap, yell, or act annoyed if someone bothers you while you are online?
Captures irritability and emotional dysregulation when digital immersion is interrupted.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
14. How often do you lose sleep due to late-night log-ins?
Measures the physiological impact of compulsive online behavior on sleep hygiene.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
15. How often do you find yourself preoccupied with the internet when offline, or fantasizing about being online?
Probes offline cognitive preoccupation and intrusive thoughts about the internet.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
16. How often do you find yourself saying "just a few more minutes" when online?
Evaluates the rationalizations used to prolong digital sessions despite initial intentions.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
17. How often do you try to cut down on the amount of time you spend online and fail?
Assesses the failure of self-imposed limits and the inability to reduce screen time.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
18. How often do you try to hide how long you've been online?
Captures the extent of deceptive behavior regarding the duration of online sessions.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
19. How often do you choose to spend more time online instead of going out with others?
Explores social withdrawal and the preference for digital environments over in-person socializing.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always
20. How often do you feel depressed, moody, or nervous when you are offline, which goes away once you are back online?
Measures emotional withdrawal symptoms that are relieved only by returning online.
- Does not apply
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Frequently
- Often
- Always