People who spend a lot of time surfing the internet are more likely to show signs of depression, British scientists said on Wednesday.

    But it is not clear whether the internet causes depression or whether depressed people are drawn to it.

    Psychologists from Leeds University found what they said was "striking" evidence that some avid net users develop compulsive internet habits in which they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites.

    "This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction," the study's lead author, Catriona Morrison, wrote in the journal Psychopathology.

    "This type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health."

    In the first large-scale study of Western young people to look at this issue, the researchers analyzed internet use and depression levels of 1,319 Britons aged between 16 and 51.

    Of these, 1.2 percent were "internet addicted", they concluded.

    These "internet addicts" spent proportionately more time browsing sexually gratifying websites, online gaming sites and online communities, Morrison said. They also had a higher incidence of moderate to severe depression than normal users.

    "Excessive internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first -- are depressed people drawn to the internet or does the internet cause depression?," Morrison said.

    "What is clear is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies."

    Morrison noted that while the 1.2 percent figure for those classed as "addicts" was small, it was larger than the incidence of gambling in Britain, which is around 0.6 percent.

    英國科學家于本周三稱，經常上網的人出現抑郁癥狀的可能性更大。

    但目前還不清楚究竟是上網導致了抑郁，還是抑郁的人更喜歡上網。

    利茲大學的心理學家發現了據他們稱"十分顯著"的證據，一些酷愛上網的人形成了強迫性的網絡習慣，他們將網絡聊天室和社交網站取代了真實生活中的社交。

    該研究報告在《精神病理學》期刊上發表。報告主要撰寫人凱翠歐娜？莫里森在其中寫道："該研究強調了一個普遍觀念，即過多地使用那些旨在取代正常社交功能的網站可能會導致抑郁癥和網癮等心理失調問題。"

    "這種類型的過度上網會對心理健康造成嚴重影響。"

    這是就這一問題對西方國家的年輕人開展的首次大規模研究，研究人員分析了年齡在16歲到51歲之間的1319名英國人的上網習慣和抑郁程度。

    他們得出結論，在這些人中，有1.2%的人上網成癮。

    莫里森說，這些"網癮患者"花在瀏覽色情網站、在線游戲網站和網絡社區上的時間更多。和普通網民相比，他們出現中度到重度抑郁的幾率更高。

    莫里森說，"過度上網和抑郁有關，但是我們不知道二者的因果關系--是抑郁的人更愛上網還是上網導致了抑郁？"

    "但有一點是清楚的，那就是對于一小部分人來說，過度上網可能是抑郁傾向的先兆。"

    莫里森指出，盡管1.2%這個比例僅從"網癮患者"這一群體本身來看不是個大數字，但該比例高于英國的賭博率，后者約為0.6%.