Internet addiction and physical and psychosocial behavior problems among rural secondary school students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students' levels of Internet addiction and the physical and psychosocial behavior problems they face while using the Internet. This descriptive study was conducted in three state secondary schools in a rural area in the western part of Turkey. This study's sample consisted of 549 students who agreed to participate, with the consent of their families, and who had an Internet connection at home. The data were evaluated using t-tests and variance analyses. In this study the students' score of Internet addiction was at medium level (mean addiction score 44.51 ± 17.90). There were significant differences between the students' Internet addiction scores and the presence of physical behavior problems (going to bed late, skipping meals, eating meals in front of the computer) and psychosocial behavior problems (suffering from conditions such as restlessness, anger, heart palpitations, or tremors when they could not connect to the Internet, decreased relationships with family and friends, feelings of anger, arguing with parents, and finding life boring and empty without an Internet connection).

Türk Ergenlerde İnternet Bağımlılığı Ve Erteledikleri Günlük Yaşam Aktiviteleri

“…According to Polos's study, there is a relationship between the use of Sleep Time-Related Information and Communication Technology (STRICT) and impairments in sleep patterns and daytime functioning in adolescents 33 . There are also studies that have reported a correlation between IA and insomnia 3,5,15,34,35. Similarly, adolescents that use the internet for prolonged periods were reported as they were sleeping less and feeling overtired 16 . On the other hand, it was observed that the number of studies on the relationship between internet usage and problems with physical health or sleep are rare 5,36 .…”

“…In many studies, a direct correlation has been shown between psychological problems and Internet addiction 16,22,24,40 . According to the study results of Nalwa & Anand, adolescents have reported that life is very boring without the Internet.…”

“…The literature refers to how adolescents spend long time on the internet and how this can cause sleep deprivation, irregular bedtime hours, inactivity, irregular eating habits, skipping meals, eating an unbalanced diet and affect other similar activities of daily life 15,16 . Moreover, it is reported that IA can cause medical issues such as musculoskeletal irregularities stemming from a faulty seating position, as well as eyesight and speech problems 17 .…”

Problematic Internet Use in Children and Adolescents: Associations with psychiatric disorders and impairment

“…PIU has also been associated with impairment in various life domains, including problems with social relationships [4,7,30,43,[60][61][62] and professional endeavors. [7,12] PIU has also been linked to lower reported life satisfaction and well-being.…”

Purposes and characteristics of internet use of adolescents

“…Aksüt ve Batur'un (2007) çalışmasında erkeklerin haftada ortalama 12 saat, kızların 9 saat internet kullandıkları bulunmuştur. Cinsiyetin problemli internet kullanımının önemli bir yordayıcısı olduğu, erkeklerin kadınlara göre internet bağımlılığına daha yatkın (Özkan, 2013) ya da internet bağımlısı olma oranlarının daha yüksek olduğu görülmektedir (Canan et al, 2012;Dinçer, 2016;Gür, Yurt, Bulduk & Atagöz, 2015). Günümüzde ergenler, internetle küçük yaşlarda tanışmaktadır.…”