PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG STUDENTS IN A CITY OF NORTH-WESTERN RAJASTHAN

Abstract

Background- Internet has become an integral part of everyone's life including adolescents and children.
Internet addiction is dened as heavily disproportionate amount of time spent when surng the internet
and as the incompetency in controlling the use of internet.This could detrimentally impact familial and interpersonal
relationships, academic achievement, and emotional development in adolescents. To assess the pattern of Aim- internet use
among school going students in a city in North Western Rajasthan, and the factors associated with severity of internet addiction.
Methodology- This cross-sectional observational study was conducted after taking approval from ethical committee of the
college and permission from school principals. Students willing to participate were requested to ll a semi-structured proforma
for socio-demographic details and factors associated with internet addiction. Internet Addiction Test was lled by them after
being explained. Results- In this study maximum number of students were in normal range (0-30) i.e. 57.8%, while 31.3% were in
mild (31-49) level of internet addiction test score, 10.1% were in moderate level and only 0.5% were in severe level of internet
addiction test score. Severity of internet addiction showed statistically signicant association with age of starting internet use,
hours spent on internet including gaming and abnormal behaviour. Conclusions- The ndings of our study suggest us to make
the adolescents aware about ill effects of excessive internet use and educate them about good internet use practices.