Loneliness among Virtual Adolescents: The Role of Internet Addiction and Gender

Abstract

Internet is an important means of obtaining information and establishing communication with others. It has become an integral part of our lives. Although internet use makes our life easier, it can also become problematic when it leads to addiction especially among adolescents. The study investigated the loneliness of adolescents with high internet addiction and adolescents with low internet addiction as well as those of adolescent boys and girls. The study adopted a 2 (adolescents with high internet addiction versus adolescents with low internet addiction)x 2(adolescent boys versus adolescent girls) factorial design. Two hundred and forty participants (124 adolescents with low internet addiction and 116 adolescents with high internet addiction) out of four hundred participants were purposively selected from different high schools and +2 colleges of Cuttack and Khurdha districts of Odisha. The participants of all four groups (adolescent boys with high internet addiction, adolescent boys with low internet addiction, adolescent girls with high internet addiction and adolescent girls with low internet addiction) were compared with respect to their level of loneliness. The results indicated that adolescents with high internet addiction were lonelier than the adolescents with low internet addiction. Gender differences indicated that adolescent girls were more lonely compared to adolescent boys.