Determining the relation between the internet addiction in Turkish secondary school students and the perceived family support

Abstract

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to determine the relation between the internet addiction levels of secondary school students and the perceived family support.MethodsThe study was conducted in the cross-sectional and descriptive design, and the data were collected from 3391 students who were studying at 5th and 7th grades at 23 secondary schools in the city of Burdur and its central villages. The Personal Information Form, the Internet Addiction Scale, and the Social Support Received from the Family Scale were used to collect the data. The data were collected between the dates 15.11.2013 and 15.01.2014. After the necessary explanations were made to the students, the informed consent form were sent to their parents/legal guardians, and the students who returned these forms were included in the study. The numbers, percentages, average values, and standard deviation, which are among the descriptive statistical methods, were used in evaluating the data. The Pearson correlation and regression analysis were applied between the continuous variables of the study.ResultsIt was observed in the study that 4.6% of the students had internet addiction at pathological level. The factors that influenced the internet addiction were determined as the social support received from the family, being male, low school success, weekly allowance being high, studying at senior grades, and going online frequently.ConclusionsWhen the study results are analyzed it is observed that the internet addiction in secondary school students in our country is at a rate that has to be taken seriously.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.