The relationship between COVID-19 fear and internet addiction in high school students

In this study, the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and internet addiction in high school students was examined. The population of the research consists of 9th, 10th and 11th grade students who continue their high school education under the Ministry of Education in Elâzığ city center in the 2021-2022 academic year. and 335 students in 12th grade. While determining the sample in the research, the appropriate sampling method, one of the non-random sampling methods, was used. As data collection tools; "Personal Information Form", "Young Internet Addiction Scale Short Form" (YİBT-CF), "Fear of COVID-19 Scale" (KKÖ) were used. Descriptive statistical calculations were made in the analysis of the data obtained. Since the scope of the research aimed to examine the relationships between students' fear of COVID-19 and internet addiction, the research was carried out in the correlational model, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The two main types of correlational research model, causal comparison and correlation methods, were used. A t-test for independent samples was conducted to determine whether high school students' internet addictions differ significantly according to variables such as gender, whether they have a chronic disease, whether they have recovered from COVID-19 or not, and whether they play computer games or not. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and internet addiction. A simple regression analysis was conducted to find out to what extent high school students' fear of COVID-19 predicted their internet addiction. According to the research findings, there is no significant difference in students' internet addictions according to gender. It can be said that the variables of having a chronic disease, recovering from COVID-19, and playing computer games have a significant effect on internet addictions. It has been observed that students with chronic diseases have higher internet addiction than those without. Among the students' COVID-19 fears, the variables of having a chronic disease and having recovered from COVID-19 did not have a significant effect, but it can be said that gender and computer game playing variables had a significant effect on their COVID-19 fears. A positive, low and insignificant relationship was observed between students' fear of COVID-19 and their internet addiction. As a result of simple regression analysis, it was seen that fear of COVID-19 did not significantly predict internet addiction. The research findings were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions were made for practitioners and researchers. Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, internet addiction, fear of COVID-19