Investigation university students’ internet addiction in terms of sociodemographic variables [Üniversite öğrencilerinin internet bağımlılıklarının sosyodemografik değişkenler açısından incelenmesi]

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of internet addiction among university students and its relationship with sociodemographic variables. Methods: This research, which is practical research, was carried out using relational techniques with the descriptive scanning model. The population consisted of undergraduate stu-dents and students with an associate degree studying at public universities and private foundations in Turkey in the academic year of 2018-2019. There are approximately 7,250,129 students studying at the university and a random sampling technique was used since all students would be given an equal chance to be selected. The responses of 400 participants were processed. Results: As a result of the study, when internet users with loss of control (36.2%, n=145) were compared with the ones who had negativity in social relations (12.0%, n=48) and ones who desire to stay online (51.5%, n=206) in terms of sociodemographic variables, there were no statistically significant differences in terms of age, marital status, living together, and personal income. According to the gender variable, loss of control was higher in males, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p=0.001). Discussion: In the direction of findings recommendations are given. © 2019, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.