Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Impact of Internet Socialization on Professional, Academic, Social Lives and Sleep Pattern Among Students and Professionals from Various Fields Across India

Abstract

Background

Internet addiction was found to be associated with a variety of psychosocial problems, including academic failure, low self-esteem, poor diet, mental disorders like depression and anxiety, sleep deprivation, and social withdrawal.

Objective

To determine the prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction and evaluate the impact of internet socialization on professional, academic, social lives and sleep pattern among students and professionals from various fields across India.

Methodology

This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from January 2022 to July 2023 among 772 participants who were aged ≥18 years. The study tool consisted of a questionnaire with four parts comprising questions related to demographic characteristics, pattern of use and impact of internet over academic, professional, social life, sleep pattern, and Kimberley Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire.

Results

The prevalence of Internet addiction was 53.6% among the participants. Participants aged above 30 years demonstrated a decreased risk of internet addiction compared to those aged below 30 years (AOR = 0.35). Participants who reported becoming restless without internet access (AOR = 4.88) and going to bed late because of the use of internet or social media (AOR = 3.01) had a significantly higher risk of internet addiction.

Conclusion

Internet addiction is very common among professionals, and students and there is a high risk of internet addiction in persons who get restless when they cannot log in, spend too much time online, stay up late using the internet, and share personal information soon after meeting others on social media sites.

Keywords:

• prevalence
• cross-sectional study
• mental health
• internet addiction
• students
• professionals

Acknowledgment

The authors hereby bestow their gratitude to Shubha Singhal, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot, for helping in developing the questionnaire in the present study. We also acknowledge Kimberly Sue Young O’Mara, who was a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Brain Syzdek, Psychologist, Product manager: Stoelting-Psychology for providing an Internet addiction test (IAT) questionnaire which was used to assess internet addiction.

Author Contributions

All authors participated in the drafting, revising, or critical review of the article; they gave final approval of the version to be published; they agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and they all made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that be in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest for this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.