ANTECEDENTS AND IMPACT OF INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG INDIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN KERALA, INDIA

Abstract

The present generation of Indian adolescents relies heavily on the Internet which has become an integral part of every Indian college student’s daily routine. As with other developing countries, adolescents and college students in India are dependent on the Internet for both educational and non-educational purposes. Not surprisingly then, Internet addiction has become an increasingly serious societal problem but one which unfortunately has attracted little or no research interest within the Indian context. The present study has been designed to address this issue by investigating how Internet addiction-related behaviors may vary as a function of Indian college students’ perception of their parents’ parenting styles and their emotive states (depression, anxiety, stress), and subsequently, how such Internet addiction-related behaviors may influence their well-being (psychological well-being, loneliness, and academic performance). Overall, the findings from the present study indicate that the parenting styles of mothers and fathers in Kerala, India have differential influences on their children’s psychological well-being, academic performance, and loneliness. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the cultural nuances and parameters that circumscribe the Indian college student’s family life.