to assess the prevalence of internet addiction and awareness regarding impacts of internet addiction on health among high school students

Abstract

Background: Internet addiction has been called Internet reliance and Internet compulsivity. It is a compulsive behavior that completely dominates the addict’s life. Internet addicts make the Internet a more significant than family, friends, and work. The Internet becomes the establishing principle of addicts’ lives. Objectives: To assess prevalence of internet addiction, to assess awareness regarding impacts of internet addiction and to find out the association of pretest level of awareness regarding impacts of internet addiction on health among high school students with their selected personal variables. Methodology: A quantitative approach with exploratory descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The samples from the selected high schools were selected using convenient sampling technique. The sample consisted of 50 students of high school. The tools used for data collection was structured prevalence of internet addiction and structured awareness scale on impact of internet addiction on health. Results: The study result reveal that, majority 24 (48%) participants were mildly addicted, 23 (46%) participants were moderately affected and remaining 3 (6%) of participants were severely affected with internet addiction. The participant’s awareness mean was 11.80, median was 13, mode was 14 with standard deviation 3.83 and score range was 5-19. Majority 30 (60%) of participants were had moderate level of awareness, 15 (30%) of participants were had poor level of awareness and remaining 5 (10%) of participants were had good level of awareness regarding impact of internet addiction on health. Conclusion: The findings revealed that prevalence rate of internet addiction was moderate and awareness regarding impact of internet addiction on health was average. There is a need for the education for the young generation regarding health impacts of internet addiction and prevention of it.