The Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Its Relationship with Mental Health Among High School Students in Bushehr, Iran (2018)

The overuse and abuse of the Internet incur the risk of Internet addiction. Besides, as adolescents spend many hours on the Internet, their general health is at stake.

The present study was a descriptive cross sectional study. The study sample included 903 female and male high school students in Bushehr City in 2018. The students took part in this study by completing Kimberly Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Goldenberg’s Mental Health(GHQ) Questionnaire. The Frequency, mean and standard deviation measures were used to describe the data. also data were analyzed through Chi squared tests and logistic regression using SPSS software (version 22).

According to the results of the prevalence of Internet addiction it was found that 1.1% (10 individuals) were Internet‑addicted and 33.1% (299 individuals) were at the risk of Internet addiction. The findings of this study indicated that four different areas of mental health including physical condition, anxiety, depression, and social functioning have a direct relationship with Internet addiction (P < 0.05).

In the present study, a large percentage of the students were prone to Internet addiction. Hence, it is necessary to plan and perform preventive, controlling, and interventional measures for high school students.