Internet Addiction In Turkish Adolescents And Their Postponed Activities Of Daily Living

• Main Authors: Kamer Gür, Fatma Nevin Şişman, Nurcan Şener, Zerrin Çetindağ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kocaeli University 2016-01-01
• Series: Kocaeli Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi
• Subjects: Adolescents; internet addiction; the daily life activities; Ergen; internet bağımlılığı; günlük yaşam aktiviteleri
• Online Access: http://dergipark.org.tr/kusbed/issue/32286/358493?publisher=kocaeli

Despite the many studies in the literature investigating the relationship between Internet Addiction (IA) and adolescent mental health, there are few studies on their problems with carrying out activities of daily living. The purpose of this descriptive study is to determine the IA status of adolescents (n=828) as well as some of the daily life activities that they postpone due to not being able to pry themselves away from the Internet. The IA scores of adolescents who sleep less than 6 hours, eat only two main meals, skip/postpone meals and have snacks at the computer instead, delay going to the toilet and taking care of hygienic needs (hand washing, bathing) while on the internet and have a poor academic standing because of postponing schoolwork as a result of being on the computer were higher (p<0.05). At the same time, it was found that these adolescents experienced pain in the back, neck, arm and other parts of the body, had eye problems (eye tearing, red eyes, pain) and digestive problems (constipation, gas) from sitting at the Internet for a long time. There were also significant differences between IA scores in terms of the adolescents’ medical complaints (pain, eye problems) and some of the emotional issues that they experienced (p<0.05).