Abstract
Internet is one of the technologies of the modern era that is being extensively used around the world. It is believed that excessive Internet use can be pathological and addictive. Though, academic use of the Internet is primarily intended for learning and research, students are one of the groups at risk of Internet addiction. Due to the expanding use of Internet among the university students, this study was conducted to examine the Internet addiction and its predictors among Guilan University of Medical Sciences students. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 583 students during the first semester of 2012. A two-stage stratified random sampling was conducted and a two-part instrument was used for data collection. The first part of the instrument was consisted of questions about demographic characteristics and the second part was the Young's Internet addiction inventory. Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis testes, Spearman correlation coefficient and ranked logistic regression were used for data analysis. About 5.7% of the students were moderately dependent to the Internet, while 44.1% were at risk for Internet addiction. Significant relationships were observed between the Internet addiction with age (P < 0.001), gender (P < 0.001), marital status (P < 0.001), major (P = 0.016), Grade point average (P = 0.017), semester of studying (P = 0.009) and student residence place (P = 0.014). However, no significant relationship was observed between the internet addiction score and level of discipline, parental job status and education level or the students' accommodation. About half of the participants in this study were at risk of Internet addiction. This finding can be a warning sign for the authorities in universities to pay more attention to this issue. A wide range of education along with empowering programs may be needed to inform the university students about the advantages and disadvantages of internet and the correct manner of using it.
Highlights
Internet is one of the technologies of the modern era that is being extensively used around the world
Internet access in Iran has been growing according to Internet World Stats (IWS): Number of Iranian Internet users is 42,000,000, equivalent to 53.3% of Iran's population, are Internet users and this means Iran is in the third place among 20 countries with many internet users
This issue has been discussed under different titles such as behavioral dependence to Internet, Internet abuse, problematic Internet use, pathological Internet usage, and cyber and virtual addiction, ‘Internet addiction’ (IA) is the most common term used in literature (4)
Summary
Internet is one of the technologies of the modern era that is being extensively used around the world. Significant relationships were observed between the Internet addiction with age (P < 0.001), gender (P < 0.001), marital status (P < 0.001), major (P = 0.016), Grade point average (P = 0.017), semester of studying (P = 0.009) and student residence place (P = 0.014). Some academics believe that excessive Internet use can be pathological and addictive and can be classified under the generic label of technological addiction that is a subset of behavioral addictions (3). This issue has been discussed under different titles such as behavioral dependence to Internet, Internet abuse, problematic Internet use, pathological Internet usage, and cyber and virtual addiction, ‘Internet addiction’ (IA) is the most common term used in literature (4). According to Chou et al Internet addiction can be defined as using Internet in a way which results in psychological, social, academic and professional problems (5)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
