The addicts were then compared to a 'healthy' control group, and it emerged that the 132 subjects displaying problematic Internet behavior were more likely to be carriers of the genetic variation.
Those affected were most likely to be female.
"The sex-specific genetic finding may result from a specific subgroup of Internet dependency, such as the use of social networks or such," Montag was quoted as saying by the paper.
Montag suggested that the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter among women could be behind the trend, but added that further studies would be needed.
