Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Neuropsychiatric Investigation, cilt.60, sa.1, ss.1-13, 2022 (Scopus)
© 2022, Istanbul Universitesi. All rights reserved.Objective: This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between sociodemographic factors, severity of depression and anxiety, and internet addiction and severity among university students in Alanya. Methods: The sample consists of 537 students from different faculties who voluntarily accepted to participate in the research. The Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Young Internet Addiction Scale were applied to the students. Results: Of the students, 74.5% (N = 400) were defined as normal users, 25.3% (N = 136) as mild–moderate internet addicts, and 0.2% (N = 1) as severe internet addicts. Gender (P = .029), the purpose of internet usage being gaming (P = .012), information (P = .05), or pornography (P = .001), monthly income (P = .001), time spent on the internet (P = .001), tobacco use (P = .001), alcohol use (P = .001), number of siblings (P = .014), and history of psychiatric treatment (P = .049) were found to be sociodemographic factors associated with internet addiction. In addition, it was observed that students with internet addiction had higher depression (P = .001) and anxiety (P = .004) scores. Conclusion: The findings in the present study indicated that mild–moderate internet addiction is a relatively common problem among university students and carries a potential risk of developing into severe internet addiction. Simultaneous evaluation of university students for internet addiction when they attend psychiatric outpatient clinics for complaints of depression, anxiety, tobacco and alcohol addiction will make a significant contribution to the fight against internet addiction.