A study of internet addiction among adolescents using smartphones

Abstract

The aim of the present research was To Study Internet Addiction Among Adolescents Using Smartphones in terms of various psycho-social correlates like Big Five, Dark Triad, boredom proneness, loneliness, family satisfaction and peer pressure; and various cognitive and physiological dysfunctions related to internet addiction. A total of 400 adolescents- 200 internet addicted (100 boys; 100 girls) and 200 non-internet addicted (100 boys; 100 girls), in the age range of 15 to 18 years, were purposefully selected from various private schools of Delhi and NCR. The present study found a strongly positive relationship between Internet addiction and Smartphone addiction for both the internet addicted and non-internet addicted groups. Internet addiction came out to be positively correlated to neuroticism, machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, subclinical psychopathy, boredom proneness, loneliness (both social and emotional) and peer pressure and negatively related to extraversion, conscientiousness and family satisfaction. Internet addicted girls, akin to their male age mates, were found to be socially withdrawn, self-obsessed, impulsive, disorganized, conventional, lonely (both emotionally and socially), dissatisfied from their families and giving in to pressure from peers. Very prominent and all pervasive association was evinced of internet addiction with the cognitive and physiological dysfunctions amongst these boys and girls. The present results exhibited a more or less similar profile for internet addicted boys and internet addicted girls. ANOVA further revealed that the main effect of internet addiction status of these adolescents seemed to contribute more to the differences on various psycho-social correlates and cognitive and physiological dysfunctions associated with internet addiction. Further, in case of internet addicted and non-internet addicted group, peer pressure emerged to be one of the strongest predictor of internet addiction.