The Structural Relationship between Generation Gap and Internet Addiction among Adolescents

Internet usage growth has changed our life for the better; however, along with its undeniable benefits, it has also had adverse consequences. The present study sought to investigate the role of generation gap as an important and influential variable in the prediction of Internet addiction among adolescents. The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of the study comprised senior high school students in Tabriz in academic year 2016-2017 from among them 274 individuals were selected via multi-stage cluster sampling method. The instruments included Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adolescents (PIEUSA) and a self-devised Generation Gap Scale. The results showed that there was a significant, positive relationship between generation gap and Internet addiction (p<0.01, r= 0.21). The proposed model had a desirable goodness of fit into the data and generation gap can be used to explain Internet addiction among adolescents. Generation gap can explain variation in Internet addiction; thereby, it can be the base of some recommendations for Internet addiction prevention and treatment.