Depression and Anxiety as Correlates of Internet Addiction Among Adolescents

The internet is extensively used by adolescents today and excessive use has been found to have adverse consequences. Young (1996) has defined problematic Internet-using behavior as 'Internet addiction'. Internet addiction is characterized by 'difficulty in real life due to internet over-use', 'excessive time spent on the internet or replacement of genuine real relationships with superficial virtual ones' or 'weakness in self-control about internet use and if withdrawn, falling in psychological confusion. Internet addiction has been reported to be associated with depression and anxiety. Anxiety is a mental health constructs and brain response that warns of danger and prepares for upcoming challenges. On the one hand, it can act as motivational construct to take actions and on the other hand, it can act as an escapism mechanism. Depression involves persistent sad mood and hopelessness or loss of interest or pleasure in life .The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship of internet addiction with anxiety and depression and to study the gender differences, among adolescents. The participants comprised of 85 students belonging to the age range of 14 to 16 yrs, from various educational institutions in Haryana. Internet addiction test (Young, 1998) was used to assess internet addiction level of the sample selected. BDI-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) was used to assess level of depression among adolescents. To assess anxiety. State trait anxiety inventory (Speilberger, Gorsuch, &  Lushene, 1983) was used. Pearson product moment correlation and t-test were used to analyze the data. It was found that depression and anxiety correlate well with internet addiction. T-test revealed significant differences between girls and boys on internet addiction and depression.