Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Registrar, Department of Academic Administration, Marwadi University, Rajkot GJ (India) - 360 003
2
Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar, MP (India) – 470003
3
Registrar, Marwadi University, Rajkot GJ (India) - 360003
4
Visiting faculty, Department of Hindi, Pandit S. N. Shukla University, Shahdol, MP (India) – 484001
5
Research Scholar, Department of Botany, Central University of Punjab, Bhathinda, PB (India) – 151401
Abstract
Background: The concept of internet addiction refers to the excessive use of internet which in turn causes various problems in individual, societal and professional aspects. Internet users have grown from 500,000 to 4.83 billion between 1989 and 2020 indicating an upward trend in the number of digitally literate people. According to TRAI, India had more over 718 million users as of June-2020, second only to China. Aim: Study aims to examine the level of addiction, its impact and associated factors in universities in the state capital Raipur and judicial capital Bilaspur districts of Chhattisgarh. Method: Data was collected by the “Personal Information Form” included internet usage overview, Young’s “Internet Addiction Test” and self developed “Impact Scale of Internet Addiction” Questionnaire. Result: Out of 937 professionals from different socio-economic backgrounds, 495 (52.82%) were male and 442 (47.18%) were females. The subject's mean age was 21.34 (SD 2.34). Study's findings indicate that the mean IAT score for IA among users was 67.15. Out of total, 222 (23.69%) respondents were found to be severely addicted; 587 (62.64%) to be possible addicts, and 122 (13.02%) to be mild respectively. Only 6 (0.64%) out of 937 people were determined to be completely safe or addiction-free. Comparing males and females' outcomes in terms of social media usage, academic performance, tendencies and purpose has proven to be highly significant. Conclusion: On these facts, I will also throw light on the risk of IA in general population, especially youth and children, and its preventive strategies and safeguard measures.
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