Assessment of status of internet addiction among adolescent school students residing in Raipur city, Chhattisgarh

Background: With over 560 million internet users, India is the second largest online market ranked only behind China as of January, 2019. Rapid expansion and proliferation of the internet has provided better opportunities for communication, information, and social interaction. In addition, when this use becomes obsessive and at the expense of other aspects of a person’s life, the internet could be problematic which has led to the emergence of the concept of internet addiction. The present study was conducted with the objective to find out the status of internet addiction in school going adolescent students and its determinants.Methods: A multicentre cross-sectional study was carried out in 160 school going adolescent students of Raipur city. Young’s Internet Addiction Scale consisting of 20-item was used in the study.Results: Out of 160 students, 94 (58.8%) were in the score range of 20-49 i.e., mild addiction and 33.8% (54) were in score range of 50-79 i.e., moderate addiction. Internet addiction was more common in boys as compared to girls and was statistically significant (p<0.05). Type of school was also significantly associated with internet addiction.Conclusions: As addiction of internet is seen in majority of students, there is an urgent need to use a comprehensive approach including periodical awareness of the students as well as parents regarding balancing the time between internets surfing, studies and outdoor physical activities.