THE EMERGING RELATIONSHIP OF PSYCHOLOGY AND THE INTERNET - PROPOSED GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING INTERNET INTERVENTION RESEARCH

The Internet is rapidly developing into an important medium of communi cation in modern society, and both psychological research and therapeu tic interventions are being increasingly conducted using this new comm unication medium. As therapeutic interventions using the Internet are becoming more prevalent, it is becoming increasingly important to cond uct research on psychotherapeutic Internet interventions to assist in the development of an appropriate standard of practice regarding inter ventions using this new medium. In this article, we examine the Intern et and the current psychological uses which are being initiated using this medium. Ethical concerns related to the psychological use of the Internet are discussed, and guidelines are proposed for the conduct of Internet intervention research.