Risk Factors of Internet Addiction among Internet Users in Croatia: An Online Questionnaire Survey

Correspondence to: Assoc. Prof. Vesna Antičević University Department of Health Studies University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 35, 21 000 Split, Croatia Phone : +385 21 564 818 E-mail: vesna.anticevic@ozs.unist.hr Copyright © 2022 KBCSM, Zagreb e-mail: apr.kbcsm@gmail.com • www.http://apr.kbcsm.hr Abstract This study aimed to examine the level of Internet addiction (IA) and characteristics of Internet usage in this (specific) sample of Croatian Internet users. We explored the likelihood of developing IA regarding personal characteristics and characteristics of Internet usage, and we aimed to examine the possibility of predicting the levels of IA based on psychological characteristics. About 35% of the respondents achieved the score above the cut-off value for determining the IA but the majority belonged in the category of mild addiction. The results showed that younger age (F = 4.14, p = 0.007), and male gender (χ2 = 7.49, p=0.05) can serve as risk factors for the development of IA. It has also been found that spending on the Internet more than 3 hours a day (β = 0.33, p < 0.001), along with poorer general health (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) and ineffective interpersonal styles (misanthropic β= 0.17, p < 0.01 versus philanthropic β = 0.16, p < 0.01), significantly contributed to the development of IA.