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Teen Internet addiction can predict past or present drug abuse. (Credit: Thinkstock/Getty Images)

Parents already panicky about the amount of time their teenage children spend online may now have something new to worry about: All those hours spent Web surfing, chatting, gaming, texting and posting to Facebook could be a warning sign of substance abuse, according to a new study in the March issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Greek researchers found that teenagers with pathologic Internet use were more likely to admit to drug abuse, and as excessive Internet use increased, so did the likelihood of substance abuse. The study also linked substance abuse and excessive Internet use to such personality traits as nonconformity, aggressiveness, recklessness and impulsiveness.

Not only did we find that specific personality attributes were important in both substance abuse and Internet addiction, but that Internet addiction remained an important predictor of substance abuse, study co-author Georgios Floros, at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said in an email to ABCNews.com.

Floros and colleagues surveyed 1,271 students between the ages of 14 and 19 on the Aegean island of Kos about their Internet use, substance use and personality. To determine who was Internet addicted, the researchersadministereda 20-question Internet addiction test that asked how often the students stayed online longer than theyd intended, how often their grades or studiesslipped because of the amount of line spent online, how often theyd yell, snap or act annoyed if someone bothered them while they were online.

When they compared the mean values of illicit substance abuse among the teenage participants, the researchers found that those who reported substance abuse had significantly higher mean scores on the Internet addiction test, and that those scores were important predictors for substance use, either past or present.

The predictive element showed an interesting new finding, said Floros.

Its not a shocking result to me, David Greenfield, a Connecticut psychologist and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, told ABCNews.com. The study offers another set of variables to look at when doing a workup.

Dr. Megan Moreno, a pediatric and adolescent medicine specialist at UW Health in Madison, Wis., said, Ive definitely seen kids who showed signs of problematic Internet use. Some of them do go on to have other problem behaviors. Sometimes thats substance abuse, sometimes its other addictive behaviors, like excess exercise or excess shopping.

Parents might wonder when they should start to worry about their Internet addict kids. At what point does mere gadget fixation morph into something more pathologic or addictive?And what is pathologic Internet use?

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Internet Addiction Linked to Drug Abuse