Internet addiction among college students in relation to five factor personality and loneliness

Abstract

Background: College life is a phase where students face various academic as well as emotional issues. Excessive internet use by students is linked with emotional ill health based on one's personality and isolated behavior. Aims: The present study aimed at investigating the prevalence of internet addiction, comparison among students considering the level of addiction and gender on personality factors and loneliness, and also to explore the association between internet addiction, personality factors, and loneliness measure. Materials and Methods: The sample of 200 college students (100 boys and 100 girls) was administered Internet Addiction Test by Young, University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Version 3) by Russell and Neo Five-Factor Inventory by Costa and McCrae. Results: Of a sample of 200 students, 28% were free from internet addiction, 57% fell into the category of mild internet addiction, and 15% fell into the moderate-severe internet-addiction category. 2 × 2 factorial design was employed to see the differences in personality factors and loneliness concerning internet addiction and gender differences along with their joint effects on these measures. Significant differences were observed on two personality factors (neuroticism and extraversion) and loneliness measure in students with different levels of internet addiction. Furthermore, correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant correlation of internet addiction with neuroticism as well as loneliness, whereas other measures of personality were negatively correlated. Neuroticism was positively and significantly correlated with loneliness. However, other personality factors were significantly but negatively correlated. Conclusion: Significant differences were observed among students considering the level of addiction on two personality factors and loneliness measure. In addition, significant associations were seen among internet addiction, personality factors, and loneliness.