Knowledge, Prevalence And Pattern Of Internet Addiction Among In-school Adolescents In Benin City

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of internet addiction (IA) varies worldwide and several factors have been linked to internet addiction  including age, knowledge of internet addiction, internet accessibility, pattern of internet use and the duration of time spent on the  internet. I Therefore, A can occur among all age groups; however, adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of the mental, emotional, and social developments associated with this period. this study was carried out to assess the knowledge, prevalence, pattern  and predictors of Internet addiction among in-school adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria in order to raise awareness of Internet addiction  and posit solutions to reduce its prevalence among adolescents.

Methods: This was an institution based cross-sectional study conducted  among 645 adolescents in Benin City using multi stage sampling method. Data was collected using an adapted structured interviewer  administered questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS Version 25.0. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 while the  95% confidence interval was constructed around the odds ratio ABSTRACT and this indicated the precision of the estimate.

Results: The  study revealed that less than half 301(46.7%) had heard of internet addiction out of which only 85 (28.7%) had good knowledge. Over two  third 323 (68.6%) of the respondents had internet addiction, out of which 53.2% had mild internet addition, 42.8% had moderate internet  addiction, while 4.0% had severe internet addiction. Sociodemographic characteristics found to be significantly associated with the  prevalence of internet addiction were age and class of respondents.

Conclusion: The study revealed that most students had fair  knowledge about internet addiction while more than half of them were addicted to the internet. There is therefore need to improve the  knowledge of the students about internet addiction and its effect, set time limits for internet usage and seek treatment when internet use  becomes problematic.