Internet Addiction among Brazilian Students: Prevalence and Association with Emotional Problems

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Internet addiction (I.A.) among students and its association with emotional problems. A total of 2,214 students (M = 21.9; SD = 1.86) from all Brazilian regions responded to an online questionnaire and were classified according to the IAT instrument score in NRU= No-risk Users, LRU= Low-risk Users, and RHU= Risk and High-risk Users. DASS-21 measured emotional problems, and the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was observed that 12.5% were classified as URAR and presented higher levels of depression (p< 0.001), anxiety (p< 0.001), and stress (p< 0.001). The main predictors for I.A. were depression (aOR = 3.2), anxiety (aOR = 2.5), and stress (aOR = 2.6). These results confirm an association between DI and emotional problems, as indicated in the literature.