Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Impact of Internet Socialization on Professional, Academic, Social Lives and Sleep Pattern Among Students and Professionals from Various Fields Across India
Open accessAbstract
Background: Internet addiction was found to be associated with a variety of psychosocial problems, including academic failure, low self-esteem, poor diet, mental disorders like depression and anxiety, sleep deprivation, and social withdrawal. Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction and evaluate the impact of internet socialization on professional, academic, social lives and sleep pattern among students and professionals from various fields across India. Methodology: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from January 2022 to July 2023 among 772 participants who were aged ≥18 years. The study tool consisted of a questionnaire with four parts comprising questions related to demographic characteristics, pattern of use and impact of internet over academic, professional, social life, sleep pattern, and Kimberley Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of Internet addiction was 53.6% among the participants. Participants aged above 30 years demonstrated a decreased risk of internet addiction compared to those aged below 30 years (AOR = 0.35). Participants who reported becoming restless without internet access (AOR = 4.88) and going to bed late because of the use of internet or social media (AOR = 3.01) had a significantly higher risk of internet addiction. Conclusion: Internet addiction is very common among professionals, and students and there is a high risk of internet addiction in persons who get restless when they cannot log in, spend too much time online, stay up late using the internet, and share personal information soon after meeting others on social media sites.
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VR can amplify the relationship between low self-control and deviant behaviour.
“VR can lower real-world consequences and increase impulsivity; it can amplify the relationship between low self-control (Kumar et al., 2023) and deviant behaviour, offering immediate sensory feedback and gratification and reinforcing impulsive behaviours.”
From Virtual Reality Risks for Children in the Metaverse: An Examination through Criminological Perspectives (2026) · cites this paper as Kumar et al., 2023
The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that people with internet addiction have less self-control than ordinary internet users, supporting the concept next to the citation. It does not address VR or whether VR amplifies a relationship between low self-control and deviant behaviour. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Kumar, T., Rajendran, V., Dutta, G., Ambwani, S., Lal, H., Ram, K., & Raghav, P.
- Affiliations
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jodhpur (IN)
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences Gorakhpur (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Dutta, Gitashree
- Venue
- Advances in Medical Education and Practice
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2023-12
- Volume
- Volume 14
- Pages
- 1369-1378
- ISSN
- 1179-7258 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10714960
- OpenAlex
- W4389485051
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4
- FWCI
- 4.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Advances in Medical Education and Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- University of Pittsburgh
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Demography › Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior
- Keywords
- internet addiction, prevalence, risk factors, internet socialization, sleep patterns, academic performance, social life, professional life, students, professionals, social media use, late bedtime
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