Family Function and Internet Addiction in Lower Grade Elementary School Students

Purpose: This study explored the degree of internet addiction and its influencing factors in lower grade elementary school children in rural areas. Methods: Subjects included 1,137 elementary school children. A structured questionnaire consisting of questions internet addiction, family function and school life satisfaction was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, ${\chi}^2$ -test, ANOVA and Correlation and Regression were performed using a SPSS program. Results: Among the subjects, 85.8% were regular users, 8.1% were potential risk users, and 6.1% were high-risk users. Career of internet use, daily internet access time, the number of conversations per week, the number of times spent eating out and traveling with parents within the last month and activities with friends, and satisfaction on school life differed significantly according to the degree of internet addiction. Finally, among the factors studied, daily internet access time, conversations within family, activities with friends and school life satisfaction in children in early elementary school was 20.7% of the explanatory power of the subjects' degree of internet addiction, collectively. Conclusion: Use of the internet by early elementary school children should be monitored and strategies to promote familial conversations, activities with peers and school life satisfaction should be developed.