Prevalence, predictors, psychological correlates of internet addiction among college students in India: a comprehensive study

Abstract

Objective: In the era of information technology, internet use is inevitable for mankind. Internet use shows its negative impact when it becomes excessive. The present study intended to determine the prevalence, predictors, psychological correlates of internet addiction (IA) among college students of India. Methods: This study aimed to synthesize findings by assessing the prevalence of IA, psychological correlates of IA and predictors of IA in a large sample of the college students of India. An extensive survey of a randomly selected sample of 1600 college students was conducted during January 2016-April 2017. Internet Addiction Test, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Barratt Impulsivity Scale were employed to collect related data. Results: A comparison of the clinical characteristics of the Internet addict (IAD) and Non Internet addict (N-IAD) groups showed that the score on IA, depression, anxiety and impulsivity were significantly higher in the IAD than in the N-IAD group. Discussion: An extensive survey on a large sample of college students yielded a prevalence of 12.5% in India. The measures of depression, anxiety and impulsivity are significantly correlated to IAD than N-IAD group. This study revealed that risk associated with internet overuse has already become severe hence, implementation of early detection and prevention measures is requisite of mental health professionals in the country.