Problematic internet use (PIU) is of increasing concern to society and is correlated with negative behavioral and health issues. Human laboratory procedures to assess economic demand for internet use may be useful in translational efforts to better understand PIU and to assess potential treatments. One such procedure involves hypothetical purchases of access to internet use. Little is known about how such hypothetical purchases relate to actual behavior. In the current study, we assessed the correlation between measures of demand via an internet purchase task (IPT) and breakpoints on a progressive ratio (PR) schedule (n = 52). Participants responded on a computer-based task on an escalating work requirement that resulted in 30-s of access to their internet-enabled smartphone. We found a statistically significant correlation between demand intensity (Q_o) and total responses (r(29) = .83, p < .001), and between Omax (maximum response expenditure) and total responses (r(29) = .34, p = .03) on the PR schedule. We did not find a relationship between measures of demand elasticity and measures of PR behavior. Because Omax is reflective of both demand and elasticity and Q₀ is primarily influenced by demand alone, the results of this study indicate that demand intensity of internet use may be a better predictor of real-world behavior than other measures of demand. These results suggest that demand intensity for internet access may be a valuable proxy for behavior-based measures in the assessment and treatment of PIU.

有问题的互联网使用（PIU）越来越引起社会关注，并与不良的行为和健康问题相关。评估实验室对互联网使用的经济需求的人体实验室程序可能有助于更好地了解PIU并评估潜在治疗方法。一种这样的程序涉及假设购买互联网使用权。对于这种假设购买与实际行为之间的关系知之甚少。在本研究中，我们评估了通过互联网购买任务（IPT）进行的需求测度与渐进比率（PR）计划中的断点之间的相关性（n= 52）。参与者根据不断提高的工作要求对基于计算机的任务做出了响应，这使得他们可以在30秒钟内访问支持互联网的智能手机。我们发现需求强度（Q _o）与总响应（r（29）= .83，p <.001）之间以及Omax（最大响应支出）与总响应（r（29）= .34）之间存在统计学上的显着相关性。，p = .03）。我们没有发现需求弹性的量度与PR行为的量度之间的关系。因为Omax反映了需求和弹性以及Q ₀这项研究的结果表明，互联网使用的需求强度可能比其他需求量度更好地预测现实世界的行为。这些结果表明，互联网访问的需求强度可能是PIU评估和治疗中基于行为的措施的宝贵代理。