Personal and Environmental Predictors of Internet Addiction in Higher Grade Elementary School Students

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of internet addiction and factors affecting internet addiction in elementary school students. Method: The participants in this study were 1,328 students in 4, 5 or 6 grades of elementary school. They were recruited from two elementary schools. Data collection was conducted using of 6 questionnaires that were modified by the investigator. The data were analyzed with the SPSS win 10.0 program using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. Results: 1) The mean of total item score for internet addiction was 2.1, which was slightly low. Of respondents in this research 48.4% normally use the internet, while 48.5% addictively use the internet and as high as 3.1% were serious internet-addicted. 2) There was a significant correlation between internet addiction, self-esteem, aggression, impulsivity, parent′s support and friend′s support(γ= -.15 ~ .44). 3) Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that amount of time spent on the internet per day, impulsivity, aggression, gender, self-esteem, duration to use of internet, father's age, and the major place where the internet was used were the predictors of internet addiction and accounted for 47% of the variance in internet addiction. Conclusion: Time spend on the internet per day, impulsivity, aggression, gender, self-esteem, duration to use of internet, father's age, the major place where the internet was used accounted for internet addiction in elementary school students. Therefore it is necessary to develop nursing interventions and to further identify the depth of the relationship of the related factors in order to decrease internet addiction.