Internet Addiction, Loneliness, Depression Among Adolescent Boys and Girls of Kashmir

Abstract

Internet Addiction: A Psychological Dependence on the Internet and is characterized by an increasing investment of resources on Internet related activities, unpleasant feelings when offline, an increasing tolerance to the effects of being Online, and denial of the Problematic Behavior”. (Kimberly Young, 1995) Loneliness: Young (1982) stated that loneliness was the absence or perceived absence of satisfying social relationships. Wheeler, Reis and Nezlek (1983) pointed out loneliness was strongly predicted by how meaningful one’s interactions were, rather than just the amount of those interactions. Depression: Depression is defined as a mood that includes a feeling of hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness. Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act (DSM-5, 20). Objectives of the study: To Assess the level of Internet Addiction, Loneliness and Depression among the Adolescent of Kashmir. To measure the Correlation between the three variables used in the study. To compare the males and females on the three variables used in the study. Method: 60 CBSE students from an English Medium school of Kashmir were chosen using purposive sampling. The sample consisted of equal number boys and girls who were matched on other variables like age, class and school. The questionnaires were distributed to the students with standard instructions and the scores were obtained for Internet Addiction, Depression and Loneliness. Questionnaires Used: Three questionnaires were used in the study, Internet Addiction Test developed by Young (1998). Beck Depression Scale developed by Beck and colleagues (1961). University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA) developed by Russell and Colleagues Results: Our research results revealed that there is Significant Positive correlation between variables Loneliness and Depression among adolescent boys at 0.01 level. The result also revealed that there is significant positive correlation between variables of Loneliness and depression among Adolescent girls at 0.01 level. Findings indicate higher the Loneliness score higher will be score on Depression. Findings also suggest that there is significant positive correlation between internet addiction and Depression scores (significant at 0.05 level) among adolescent girls only. Higher the score on internet addiction higher will be the scores on Depression. The result also revealed that there is a positive correlation between variable Depression and Loneliness among Adolescent (both boys and girls) at 0.01 level. The result revealed that there is no significant difference on the basis of gender differences on these three variables (i.e., Internet Addiction, Loneliness, and Depression) in the adolescents of Kashmir.