Assessment of prevalence of internet addiction among youth population in urban and rural area: A comparative study

Background: With the increase in internet usage in today’s time, the incidence of internet addiction has also increased. College students are especially vulnerable to internet, because of availability of time, unlimited access, limited parental supervision and the psychological and developmental characteristics of young adulthood. Objective of this study is to identify internet addiction among urban and rural youth population. Method: This cross sectional study was carried among urban and rural population in the locality of Sangli district, Maharashtra, India. A total of 200 students having an access to internet were selected by simple random sampling. Young’s Internet addiction scale, consisting of 20-item, based upon five-point Likert scale was used and subjects were classified accordingly. Result: The prevalence of internet addiction among urban population is 65% while in rural population is 70%. Mild IA was common among both populations while severe IA is seen more in rural population. As far as gender is considered, the prevalence is similar in male and female sample. The addicts use internet preferably for social media and social purposes. Conclusions:In this study, Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is used which is a simple and easy tool to assess Internet addiction among urban and rural youth population. It is necessary to adopt multi-sectoral approach to improve education among urban and rural youth population.