The association between internet addiction, dissociation, and socio- demographic features among college students

Purpose: This study aims to investigate Internet addiction among young adult university students and to examine the correlation between excessive Internet use, dissociative symptoms, and socio-demographic features. University student Internet use patterns are also investigated.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted among 1034 students, aged between 18 and 27 years, from the Duzce University. Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), Dissociative Experiences Scale, and a sociodemographic query form was employed in the collection of data. Pearson correlation analysis, the t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and chi-square test were used for data analysis.Results: According to the IAS, 9.7% of the study sample was addicted to the Internet. The Internet addicts were more likely to use alcohol (p<0.001). The pearson correlation analysis results revealed a significant positive correlation between dissociative experiences and Internet addiction (r = 0.220, p<0.001) and weekly internet use (r = 0.227, p<0.001). Levels of internet addiction were significantlyhigher among male students than females (p<0.001). The internet use pattern also differed significantly between genders.Conclusions: According to the results of this study, Internet addiction is a relatively frequent phenomenon among young adult college students in Turkey. Excessive internet use is associated with higher levels of dissociative symptoms and alcohol use.