Internet Addiction among a Sample of Ain Shams University Students: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction Internet addiction (IA) is one of the addictive behaviors with a significant public health importance. Aim of the Work To measure the prevalence of Internet Addiction among Ain Shams university students, to identify different risk factors contributing to IA among them, and to identify the relationship between IA and self-esteem. Materials andMethods A crosssectional study was conducted among a sample of 1308 students from six faculties covering both Practical and literal faculties at Ain Shams University using self-administered questionnaire that include demographic characteristics, Internet related data, validated Arabic version of young’s internet addiction scale and Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale. Results 89.7% of studied students had IA and 77.5% of the students had normal self-esteem. The majority of students (91.9%) used mobile phones to access the internet and (94.3%) accessed it from their homes. Face-book was the most used social media platform and most of students logged on the internet for social networking (87.5%). IA decreased with age advancement and increased for students living with their families. Internet addiction decreased with the improvement of students’ academic performance. IA was related to internet usage purposes in the form of studying activities, the social application used such as Instagram and twitter and the daily usage time. IA was significantly associated with Low self-esteem. Conclusions and recommendations Level of IA was high among Ain hams University students and it was associated with Low self-esteem. Awareness interventional campaign about the harmful consequences of excessive internet usage become an urgent issue.