Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine the predictive effects of sex, age, depression, and problematic behaviors on the incidence and remission of internet addiction (IA) in college students over a one-year follow-up. A total of 500 college students (262 women and 238 men) were recruited. The predictive effects of sex, age, severity of depression, self-harm/suicidal behaviors, eating problems, risk-taking behaviors, substance use, aggression, and uncontrollable sexual encounters on the incidence and remission of IA over a one-year follow-up were examined. The one-year incidence and remission rates for IA were 7.5% and 46.4%, respectively. Severity of depression, self-harm and suicidal behaviors, and uncontrollable sexual encounters at the initial investigation predicted the incidence of IA in a univariate analysis, whereas only severity of depression predicted the incidence of IA in a multivariable logistic regression (p = 0.015, odds ratio = 1.105, 95% confidence intervals: 1.021–1.196). A relatively young age predicted the remission of IA. Depression and young age predicted the incidence and remission, respectively, of IA in college students in the one-year follow-up.
Highlights
IntroductionInternet use increased with the prevalence of mobile devices and internet-based applications
Internet use increased with the prevalence of mobile devices and internet-based applications.The benefits of mobile devices and applications can engender adverse effects such as internet addiction (IA)
The aim of this study was to determine the predictive effects of sex, age, depression, and problematic behaviors on the incidence and remission of IA in college students over one year
Summary
Internet use increased with the prevalence of mobile devices and internet-based applications. The benefits of mobile devices and applications can engender adverse effects such as internet addiction (IA). IA is defined as poorly controlled preoccupations, urges, or behaviors associated with internet use with clinically significant distress or impairment [1]. College students use the internet for studying, gaming, social networking, gambling, chatting, shopping, and watching pornographic videos. Given that college students have free and unlimited access to the internet, have flexible schedules, and are free from their parents’ interference, they were identified as having a high risk for IA [2,3]. The prevalence of IA in college students varies among countries, Int. J. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 2861; doi:10.3390/ijerph15122861 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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