Relationship between Internet Addiction and Attitudes and Practical Commitment to Prayer in Students: A Cross-sectional Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and students' attitudes and practical commitment to prayer.

This cross-sectional study was performed on students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 1398 that were selected by random sampling. Data collection tools included three questionnaires of personal-social information, Young Internet addiction and measuring the attitude and practical commitment to the prayers. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.16 using t-test and ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression.

The average age of students was 21 years, 67% of whom were women and 86% of whom were single. The average time spent using the Internet and cyberspace among students was 5 hours per day. Among the communication softwares, Telegram and Instagram were the most used. Overall, 60% of students were severely addicted to the Internet, and the majority of participants had a high practical commitment to prayer. An indirect and significant relationship was found between Internet addiction and attitudes and practical commitment scores (p = 0.01).

Due to the high rate of Internet addiction among students and its inverse relationship with commitment to prayer, more attention should be paid to administrators, university professors and cultural-educational planners in the field of lifestyle changes with the conditions of the day, cyberspace use management, It is essential to be aware of the negative consequences of Internet addiction and to create a space for students to commit to religious programs