Predictability of internet addiction with adolescent perception of social support and ostracism experiences

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine whether adolescent perception of social support and ostracism experiences are able to predict Internet addiction. The study endeavours to identify whether adolescent perception of social support, ostracism experiences, and Internet addiction significantly vary on the basis of sex, educational level, number of siblings, household educational level, average household income, mobile phone use, frequency of Internet use, connection status of home computer, and number of social media platforms in use. The study sample designated for research consists of 767 secondary and high school students including 450 male and 317 female students. The study data were collected through the use of perceived social support, adolescent ostracism experiences, and Internet addiction scale and a personal information form. The study results indicate that perceived social support and adolescent ostracism experiences are able to predict Internet addiction to a significant extent (p<0.05). The research study also found a significant correlation between the factors of perceived social support from a friend and sex. Significant variability was identified among the levels of Internet addiction among grades, while no correlation was determined between the frequency of Internet use and Internet addiction. In proportion with educational level, Internet addiction and ostracism experiences were observed to increase and perceived social support to decrease to a significant extent. No significant correlation was identified between average household income and Perceived Social Support and between Ostracism Experiences and Internet Addiction.