The relationship between internet use and depressive symptoms among high school students

Abstract

Introduction/Objective. Problematic internet use has been associated with various mental health problems. The objective of this study was to investigate the internet use and its relationship with depressive symptoms among high school students. Methods. This cross-sectional observational study included 620 students from the first to the fourth grade of four high schools in Požarevac, Serbia. The research data were obtained from an ad hoc designed questionnaire on socio-demographic data, health habits, and the internet use, Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC). Results. Out of 620 students (66.9% girls) there were 389 respondents (62.7%) who reported normal (n = 40), or average internet use (n = 349) with a mild level of addiction, while 226 (36.5%) subjects belonged to problematic internet use group, and five students (0.8%) showed a high level of internet addiction. A CES-DC score ≥ 15, considered indicative of clinically significant depressive symptoms, was found significantly more frequent among internet addicts compared to internet normal users (78.4% vs. 46.5%, respectively). Among internet addicts there was a significantly higher percentage of those who used psychologist/psychotherapist help compared to internet normal users (29.4% vs. 12.1%, respectively). The logistic regression analysis showed that internet addiction (IAT score ≥ 50) was the strongest independent predictor of clinically significant depressive symptoms (OR = 3.32; 95% CI = 2.24–4.91), after adjusting for confounders (female gender, urban living, Tik Tok and Twitter use, sports activities, and the use of the internet for learning or for aimless “surfing”). Conclusion. We show that internet addiction is positively related to clinically significant depressive symptoms among high school students. Health education focused on the proper use of the internet may be regarded as mental health promotion.

Keywords

• internet
• behavior
• addiction
• depressive symptoms