Investigating the Association Between Internet Addiction, Depression, Social Phobia, Social Anxiety and Psychiatric Disorders Among Secondary Education Students in Turkey

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of the study is to identify the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) among students and evaluate the association of IA with depression, social phobia, social anxiety and psychiatric disorders. Materials and Methods: A total of 297 students aged 9-14 years and studying at a private school in Gölbaşı/Ankara province were included in the study. The study was conducted between November 2015 and May 2016. The student’s depression inventory; social phobia scale for student and adolescents; social anxiety scale for student-revised and strength and difficulties questionnaire were used as data collection tools. According to the Internet dependency scale, student were classified into 4 groups as non-addicted group, threshold group, risk group and addicted group. Results: According to the Internet dependency scale, the majority (258/86.9%) of the students were not Internet addicts. Twenty seven (9.1%) students were in the threshold group and 12 (4%) student were in the risk group. Compared with the depressed mood, the likelihood of having depression in the risk group was higher (p=0.001). The risk group and the threshold group had higher social phobia and social anxiety scores at a statistically significant level than the non-dependent group (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Internet use is an indispensable element for the lives of generation-Z student. However Internet addiction, which is directly related to this condition, causes many psychological and social problems for student at an alarming level. These problems cannot be ignored and can be avoided by rational use of the internet.