Prevalence of Problematic Internet Use and its Risk Factors among the Adolescents in Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Problematic Internet Use is growing as a potentially problematic condition parallel to existing behavioral disorders, especially among adolescents. Nonetheless, the condition is widespread and problematic, limited scientific evidence is available on the prevalence, diagnosis, risk factors, prevention, and efficacy of the treatment globally as well as locally. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of Problematic Internet Use among 15-19-year-old adolescents in Colombo district. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) developed by Young (1998) was adapted, translated, and validated for this study. A school-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 1351 school-going adolescents by the multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection and the data analysis was done using the SPSS-21 version. Initial bivariate analysis was followed up with Multivariate Logistic Regression analysis to determine the risk factors of Problematic Internet Use. The prevalence of Problematic Internet Use among adolescents was 17.2% (95% CI: 15.2-19.3). Male sex (AOR=2.27;95% CI:1.27-4.07), excessive use of social media (AOR=4.32; 95% CI:2.12-8.80), lack of engagement in outdoor sports(AOR=5.4; 95% CI:2.49-11.73), unemployed mother (AOR=2.06;95% CI:1.40-3.04), excessive engagement of internet gaming (AOR=1.94;95% CI:1.34-2.82), excessive internet usage time per day for nonacademic activities (AOR=2.59; 95%CI:1.71-3.91), higher duration of internet use in years (AOR=2.64;95% CI:1.80-3.85), and no excessive internet use by the parents (AOR=0.46; 95% CI:0.30-0.70) were the statistically significant risk factors. The prevalence of Problematic Internet Use among adolescents was within the range. The study findings will aid the policymakers and administrators in preventing, diagnosing, and managing Problematic Internet Use among this age group of adolescents