Internet Addiction and Gaming Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Young People in Southern Karnataka

Advances in technology and increased accessibility to modern gadgets have opened up new options for giving alternate recreational activities. The country has seen rapid growth in the smartphone market over the past decade, and mobile phones are preferred by the vast majority of gamers over traditional personal computers and laptops. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related restrictions, online teaching, and the use of the internet for work have forced people to resort to the internet more than during the pre-pandemic period. There have not been many studies done to evaluate internet addiction (IA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) among young people in India, and research is needed to quantify the magnitude of the problem and undertake timely public health actions.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 young people aged 10 to 24 years in Kolar district. Young people meeting the eligibility criteria from schools and colleges were randomly selected to include 67 participants per taluk. Standardized validated nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Formand 20-item Internet Addiction Test questionnaire were used to collect data. Data were entered using EpiData version 3.1 (EpiData Association, Odense, Denmark) and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

COVID-19 control measures have caused more young people to access the internet in the recent past. Among young people studied, 58.5% and 6.5% have IA and IGD, respectively. Factors like living in urban areas, belonging to families above the poverty line, not living with parents, years of internet use, and increased access to internet/gadgets during the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly associated with IA and IGD. Since addiction to the internet and online gaming is known to have a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of young people, in light of IGD being listed in the International Classification of Diseases, there is an urgent need to target these conditions, especially for young people.