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Internet addiction in high school and university students: an evaluation in terms of various psychological, social and personal variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2020

Hatice Odaci ,
Fatma Irem Değerli  and
Neslihan Cikrikci
Hatice Odaci
Affiliation:
Guidance and Psychological Counseling Branch, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Trabzon University, Trabzon, Turkey
Fatma Irem Değerli*
Affiliation:
Guidance and Psychological Counseling Branch, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Trabzon University, Trabzon, Turkey
Neslihan Cikrikci
Affiliation:
Guidance and Psychological Counseling Branch, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey
*
*Email: iremdegerli@gmail.com
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Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine internet addiction among high school and university students in terms of interpersonal relationships, automatic thoughts and problem-solving skills. The sample of the study comprised a total of 480 participants: 195 (40.6%) high school and 285 (59.4%) university students. Females constituted 53.3% (256) of the participants and males 46.7% (224). In addition to a Personal Information Form, the Interpersonal Relationship Styles Scale, Automatic Thoughts Scale, Problem Solving Inventory and Internet Addiction Scale, for which validity, reliability and adaptation studies were performed, were used for data collection. A significant difference was determined between the groups with no or limited symptoms of internet addiction in terms of inhibitory interpersonal relationship styles, automatic thoughts and problem-solving skills. Inhibitory interpersonal relationships, automatic thoughts and problem-solving skills were identified as predictive of internet addiction.

Keywords

internet addictioninterpersonal relationshipsautomatic thoughtsproblem-solving skillsstudents
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , June 2021 , pp. 3 - 14
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Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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