Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors

TLDR: Frequent usage of online shopping and social online activities, high neuroticism and low agreeableness significantly increased the chances of being addicted to the Internet, whereas a combination of online gaming and openness to experience increased it.

About: This article is published in Computers in Human Behavior.The article was published on 2013-05-01 and is currently open access. It has received 433 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: The Internet & Addiction.

Figures

Table 1: Sociodemographics of Total Sample and Subsamples of Not Addicted and Addicted Students

Table 2: Internet Use and Internet Addiction in Addicted and Not Addicted Students

Table 3: Logistic Regression of Personality and Internet Application Use on Internet Addiction

Figure 1: Interaction Effect of Gaming Frequency and Openness on Internet Addiction

Figure 2: Interaction Effect of Online Shopping Frequency and Neuroticism on Internet Addiction

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What have the authors contributed in "Internet addiction in students: prevalence and risk factors" ?

Rather than looking at Internet addiction per se, this study focused on particular activities on the Internet that might be potentially addictive and linked them to personality traits that might predispose individuals to Internet addiction. The aims of this study were ( i ) to assess the prevalence of clinically significant levels of Internet addiction, and to ( ii ) discern the interplay between personality traits and specific Internet uses in increasing the risk for Internet addiction. This cross-sectional online survey used data from 2,257 students of an English university. 

Q2. What was the next Internet application that increased the risk of being addicted to the Internet?

The next Internet application that significantly increased the risks of being addicted to the Internet was online chat/forums (i.e., increased chance by 60%). 

Q3. What is the main reason for the use of online forums?

As with online chat rooms, online forums may be a substitute for real life contacts, and engagement with them could lead to excess, as suggested by the results of this study. 

Q4. What was the baseline model including no predictors?

The baseline model including no predictors was significant (b = -3.340, Wald Χ2 (1) = 761.17, p < .01), indicating that the chance for being addicted to the Internet by the overall study population was .03. 

Q5. What is the effect of neuroticism on the odds of being addicted to the Internet?

the interaction between neuroticism and online shopping decreased the odds of being addicted to the Internet by 45% (b = -.60, Wald Χ2 (1) = 5.50, p < .05). 

Q6. What is the reason for the increase in the risk of being addicted to the Internet?

This study also demonstrated that engaging in online gaming increased the risks of being addicted to the Internet when paired with higher openness to experience. 

Q7. What is the main reason why some individuals become addicted to the Internet?

it suggests that SNSs are mostly used for the maintenance of established offline networks that are important for academic and professional opportunities, and thus might explain why some individuals become addicted to using them (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). 

Q8. What are the reasons for the increased use of instant messengers in young populations?

Previous research has found that the reasons for increased use of instant messengers (e.g., ICQ, MSN) in young populations are media richness and presentational control (Sheer, 2010).