Psychological predictors and “protectors” of students’ Internet addiction

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the educational environment is forced to “migrate” to a virtual environment, which significantly increases the duration of student youth on the Internet space. In this regard, it has become even more relevant to consider psychological characteristics, which allow a person to remain within the framework of a “healthy” use of the Internet, and, which ones predict the emergence of Internet addiction.The aim of the present research was to identify the psychological properties of a person that contribute to and prevent the emergence of Internet addiction among students in the higher education system.Methodology and research methods. The methodological foundations of the study are the following: the theory of G. Allport, who considers the personality as an open self-developing system; the psychological concept of viability of E. A. Rylskaya; the theory of reflection by A. V. Karpov; a set of reasonable ideas about Internet addiction by A. Yu. Egorov, A. E. Voiskunsky, et al. The methodological foundations made it possible to present the predictors of Internet addiction as factors contributing to the “closure” of the system and inhibiting the personality development, and “protectors” as those psychological variables that protect the individual from the occurrence of Internet addiction, ensuring its openness and freedom of humanbecoming. The sample of the study was 201 people: students of South Ural State University aged 18 to 24 years (X = 21.14; SD = 1.52): 94 women (46.8 %) and 107 men (53.2 %). In the course of the empirical research, a complex of psychodiagnostic methods was used: “Chen Internet Addiction Scale” as adapted by K. A. Feklisov and V. L. Malygin; the Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (form C); the reflexivity questionnaire by A. V. Karpov and the questionnaire “Human vitality” by E. A. Rylskaya. The following methods of mathematical statistics were used: descriptive statistics, discriminant analysis. Calculations were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 17.0.Results. The psychological characteristics of the personality, which act as predictors and “protectors” of Internet addiction, are revealed. The predictors of Internet addiction in students include: emotional instability, low normative behaviour, anxiety, tension, low self-control, indicating the tendency of a person addicted to the Internet to be highly conflicted and irritable, reactive arousal and impulsiveness. Such students are characterised by immaturity of emotions, instability of interests, irresponsibility; dependent on mood, poorly control the manifestation of emotions and their own behaviour; have a weak will. Internet addiction hinders personal development. At the same time, reflexivity and vitality act as “protectors” and perform a protective function in the emergence of Internet addiction, allowing the individual to remain an open self-developing system.Scientific novelty. For the first time, a comprehensive study of predictors and “protectors” of Internet addiction was performed on a sample of students in the context of the idea of a personality as an open self-developing system, which made it possible to present Internet addiction as a phenomenon that negatively affects the personality development. A prognostic model has been empirically verified, which includes a set of psychological variables that “predict” the emergence of Internet addiction in students with a greater or lesser degree of probability.Practical significance. The Internet addiction “prediction” modelling can be applied in counselling practice, when clients are not aware of their addiction or are trying to hide it. The research materials and the conclusions made by the authors can serve as a basis for developing recommendations for the prevention of Internet addiction, and the identified “protectors” (viability and reflexivity) determine the direction of development of correctional and training programmes.