Prevalence of Internet Addiction among Secondary Level Students

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Assesses the prevalence of internet addiction among secondary school students in Waling Municipality, Syangja, Nepal.
• Highlights the growing concern of excessive internet use in adolescent populations.
• Addresses the need for localized data on internet addiction in educational settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of internet addiction among secondary level students.
• To identify factors associated with internet addiction in this demographic.
• To inform public health strategies for adolescent digital well-being.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 280 students aged 15-19 from three schools.
• Stratified simple random sampling was employed for participant selection.
• A 20-question Internet Addiction scale was used for data collection, with analysis including descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

Main Results:

• 30.7% of students had mild and 15.4% had moderate internet addiction.
• Significant risk factors included internet use exceeding two hours daily, common access modes, peer encouragement, living with family, and gender.
• The study identified specific demographic and behavioral predictors of internet addiction.

Conclusions:

• Almost half of the surveyed school adolescents demonstrated internet addiction.
• Public awareness campaigns and strategies to promote positive internet use are recommended.
• Interventions should aim to mitigate negative outcomes associated with identified risk factors.