Possible factors affecting internet addiction: a case study of higher education students of Qatar

Abstract

The sea change brought by the internet and technology to human life came along with all possible hazards, if not adopted in the correct manner. In this regard, the current study attempted an effort to capture the opinion of the students about the cause and effect of the factors in internet usage and specifically to internet addiction. Data is collected from 357 students of Qatar using questionnaire. The collected data is validated and analysed using binary logistic regression and principal component analysis. Though the construct 'culture' is introduced in the model, no significant contribution and impact is found on the internet usage and addiction. However, the constructs introduced are found to have association with internet addiction but in logistic regression analysis, the education level and time management have actual impact on the internet addiction. But unlike the above results, the principal component analysis showed that demographic variables like age, gender, income level and others are able to explain much variation in internet usage.