SYNOPSIS of the Proposed Research for

Human Development & Family Studies

NAME: Himani joshi I.D. No.: 38338

DEGREE: M.Sc. BATCH: 2013

CHAIRPERSON OF ADVISORY COMMITEE

Dr.Abha Ahuja

Prof. & Head

Dept. of Human Development& Family studies

MEMBERS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE

( Dr. Pratibha Singh)

( Dr. Ritu Singh )

Prof. & Head

Asst. professor

dept. of HSc extension

dept. of H.D.F.S

(Dr. A.K. Shukla)

(Dr. Neelam Bhardwaj)

1

Prof. & Head

Prof. & Head

College of Basic Sciences & Humanities

dept. of agri. communition

Tentati

ve Thesis TITLEINTERNET ADDICTION: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON

MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS

Dept. of Human Development &Family studies

College of Home Science

G.B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand

INTRODUCTION

In the last decades of the 20th century the world in general, and

India in particular witnessed a remarkable and rapid advancement of

information and communication technologies. During this era

“communication” emerged as the most popular term. Today the

communication revolution has brought people together regardless of

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geographical boundaries. From time to time, new communication

technologies have been invented for better individual as well as mass

communication. First, by the invention of the printing technology the

new era of mass communication began. Then, the invention of wireless

communication, Radio. Later, the invention of Television made an

immense impact all over the world. And, recently, Internet has emerged

as the outstanding innovation in the field of communication in the

history of humankind. Rapid expansion of internet has changed the

lives of many people worldwide. Very significantly internet has

brought the world into a single room. Right from getting access news

across the world to a wealth of shopping knowledge, job opportunities,

and choice of life partners there is a whole gamut of information

available to internet users.

With the availability and mobility of new media, Internet addiction has

emerged as a potential problem in young people. The term “internet

addiction” was introduced for the first time in 1996. The Internet

addiction symptoms as described by Young (1996) are - excessive mental

effort on internet , spending hours even though being intended to

spend couple of minutes, exposure to health problems due to spending

hours in front of the screen each time, continuously waiting for the

next connection time, feeling more comfortable contacting people over

internet than talking face-to-face, feeling a continuous desire for

checking e-mails whether there is something new, decrease in meals,

lessons or work efficiency due to using internet or staying

connected , trying to give or spread the mail address, chat room names

etc. to everybody, continuously feeling sleepless and tired because of3

staying connected to the internet until late , having failure in

attempts to decrease the internet usage, withdrawal syndrome due to

decrease in the internet usage, telling lies to family members,

therapist or others to be able to stay connected to the internet,

having affection changes in the duration of internet connection.

It may negatively affect cognitive functioning (Park et al., 2011),

lead to poor academic performance and engagement in risky activities

(Tsitsika et al., 2011), poor dietary habits (Kim et al. 2010) low

quality of interpersonal relations (Milani et al. 2009), and self-

injurious behaviour (Lam et al. 2009) in adolescents. From the reported

negative consequences, it appears that Internet addiction can have a

variety of detrimental psychosocial and physical outcomes for

adolescents that may require professional intervention (King et al.

2012).

In addition to this, Internet addiction appears to be comorbid with

clinical disorders and premorbid symptoms. In adolescents, Internet

addiction has been reported to be comorbid with depression and

insomnia (Cheung & Wong, 2011), suicidal ideation (Fu et al., 2010),

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, social phobia, and hostility

(Ko et al., 2009), schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (Ha et

al., 2006), aggression (Ko et al., 2009), drug use (Gong et al., 2009), and

problematic alcohol use (Ko et al. 2008). These comorbidities may be

suggestive of a bidirectional causality relationship and similar

etiology (Ko et al,. 1998), and increased severity of psychopathology

relative to a single presenting mental health problem ( Graaf et al.,

2003). In light of this, Internet addiction in adolescents cannot be4

dismissed as a transitory phenomenon that will take care of itself.

Instead, it appears important to establish and explore a diagnosis

that may prove beneficial for young populations who experience similar

and related problems (King et al., 2012).

People are increasingly using social media platforms, such as Twitter

and Facebook, to share their thoughts and opinions with their

contacts. Postings on these sites are made in a naturalistic setting

and in the course of daily activities and happenings. As such, social

media provides a means for capturing behavioural attributes that are

relevant to an individual’s thinking, mood, communication, activities,

and socialization. The emotion and language used in social media

postings may indicate feelings of worthlessness, guilt, helplessness,

and self-hatred that characterize major depression. Additionally,

depression sufferers often withdraw from social situations and

activities. Such changes in activity might be salient with changes in

activity on social media. Also, social media might reflect changing

social ties. We pursue the hypothesis that changes in language,

activity, and social ties may be used jointly to construct statistical

models to detect and even predict Major Depressive Disorder in a fine-

grained manner, including ways that can complement and extend

traditional approaches to diagnosis.

Today internet is an essential communication medium in professional as

well as personal life. Among the various tools that internet has

brought our way Social Networking became a global phenomenon. Millions

of people now go online to engage in social networks. According to

Wikipedia, an online encyclopaedia, there are more than 300 Social5

Networking Sites (SNS) and 1.5 billion members worldwide. In recent

years, usage of social networking sites has grown rapidly. It took 38

years to attract 50 million listeners for wireless radio system, 13

years for television to attract 50 million viewers; in 4 years the

internet has attract 50 million surfers. IPods took 3 years to reach

50 million users, but Facebook , one of the leading social networking

sites, added over 200 million users in just 12 months. This shows the

penetration capacity and popularity of social networking sites.

Positive Impact:The age of children is so younger to expose them the content, people

or situations that are out of their depth. But the influence of SNSs

could also be because of their positive impact like

i) Speedy Communication:

ii) Find/make friends as well as maintain relationships

iii) Ease of use

iv) In touch with the world

Negative Impact:In considering the positive impact some negative impact are also there

of online SNSs, according to the Indian survey including

i) Waste of time

ii) Diverting the student’s attention.

iii) It reduces the reading; learning capabilities.

iv) It reduces real human contact

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vi) Due to unnecessary use of SNSs it effects on the health of users.

They don’t take time-to-time meals as well as rest. They take so many

amounts of coffee, tea, chocolates, wafers & etc., which can make them

fat.

vii) Cyber crimes like Cyber bulling

viii) Depression, Anxiety and Insomnia.

ix) It’s an open invitation to thieves by telling all on SNSs that you

are out of station or going somewhere else.

OBJECTIVES:

To assess the prevalence of internet addiction in adolescents. To study the usage pattern of social networking sites among

adolescents. To study the social problems faced by adolescents by using social

networking sites. To analyse the impact of social networking sites usage on

adolescents.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

INTERNET ADDICTION AND DEPRESSION:

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Ha et al. (2007) studied the relationship between depression and

internet addiction among adolescents. firstly they evaluated for their

behavioural characteristics and their primary purpose for computer

use, secondly investigated correlation between internet addiction and

depression. The study revealed that there is a significant association

between internet addiction and depression symptoms in adolescents.

Gore, (2010) explored the concept of internet addiction and examined

the relationship between addictive symptoms and depressions. An online

questionnaire was used to measure participants, internet use, the

functions for which they used and their depressive tendencies. Results

revealed that internet addiction is linked to depression, such that

those who regard themselves as dependent on the internet reported

high level of depression.

Usage Pattern of Social Networking Sites : Lenhart and Madden (2007) said that in the past five years social

networking has “rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that

engages tens of millions of Internet users. The study proposes that online

social networking profiles posted by adolescents contain intimate, candid,

and observable self-disclosure and peer interaction that can be analyzed

creating an overall picture of adolescent behaviour, highlighting specific

areas needing additional research, and addressing implications for parental

monitoring and intervention. fifty-five percent of teenagers use and create

online social networking profiles. They opine that with more than half of

teenage Internet users interacting online, the concept of blogging is a

salient research topic investigating what adolescents are blogging about,

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how they are socially interacting, and what potential effects this phenomena

may have on other dimensions of their lives.

Ophus and Abbit (2009) explored that student usage patterns and perceptions

of the value of social networking technology in an academic setting. The

study included 110 undergraduates where majority of the students were female

(107) and most of them between the ages 18 and 19 years old. Resulted from

the surveys reported about 95.5 percent of respondents logged on to Facebook

either daily or multiple times per day and most of them used Social

networking sites to communicate with friends (87.3 percent) and followed by

communication with family. Result also showed that there were 85.5 percent

of respondent never use Facebook to communicate with their instructor.

Social Networking Sites Effects on Users :

Kessler (2010) talks about the positive effects of social networking based

on a report from a Portland, Oregon, classroom where students struggled with

attendance and participation at school. For the first time in its history,

the school met its yearly progress goal for absenteeism. The article gives

six reasons that made social networking such a positive change in the

classroom. The first reason, “social media is not going away”, is basically

self explanatory when one observes where technology currently stands on a

global aspect. It is something that is not only going to grow, but consume

the way of life in the future. “Don’t fight a losing battle,” says

Delmatoff, an English teacher. “We’re going to get there anyway, so it’s

better to be on the cutting edge, and be moving with the kids, rather than

moving against them.” The remaining reasons are as follows: when kids are

engaged, they learn better; safe social media are available and they are

free; replace online procrastination with social education, since social

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media encourages collaboration instead of cliques; and cell phones aren’t

the enemy. In summary, the article focuses on the positive outlooks of using

social media and argues that it should be embraced, and that our students

taught how to use it and become responsible, experienced positive learners

with the use of social networking and technology. “Almost three-fourths of

7th through 12th graders have at least one social media profile, according

to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation" (Kessler, 2010).

Kirschner & Karpinski (2010) examined that the ability for subjects to

multitask and the negative effects of attempting to simultaneously process

different streams of information, show that such behaviours lead to both

increased study time to achieve parity and an increase of in mistakes while

processing information than those who are sequentially or serially

processing the same information. In laymen’s terms, those who choose not to

multitask and stick to one project or assignment at a time, have a higher

success rate than those who don’t. The authors’ purpose is to diffuse

previous studies from prior research from other sources that claim students

can multitask and be effective while using the social.

Gunduz (2007) noted that Internet and social networking site usage could

lead to psychological conditions such as depression or anxiety.

Additionally, Block (2008) noted some of the consequences for Internet usage

including social isolation, fatigue, and feelings of anger. Among other

mental health symptoms, “Facebook depression” was a term used by Melville

(2010) when pre-teens and teens spend large amounts of time using social

media sites and then develop depression. Melville stated that this

phenomenon occurs when others do not accept the individual online or the

individual does not feel connected online.

Impact on mental health of Adolescents : 10

i) Cyber bullying and Online Harassment; Cyber bullying is the

deliberately using digital media that communicate false embarrassing or

hostile information about the another person. it is the most common online

risk for all teens and it is the peer-to-peer risk.

Patchin and Hinduja (2006) found that 60% of their bullying survey sample

had been ignored by others online, 50% had been disrespected by others,

almost 30% had been called names, and 21.4% reported being threatened by

others while online. Also, many of the youth reported that they had been

picked on by others (19.8%) and 19.3% reported that someone had made fun of

them online. Another major concern about cyber-bullying is that it is very

easy for students to spread rumours about others, to a large population. In

this study, 18.8% of the respondents had reported that they were the victim

of rumor-spreading online. Online bullying has become a large problem within

and outside of our schools. In this same study, 30% of adolescent

respondents reported that they had been the victim of some sort of online

bullying. Though this study involved people from many ages, they limited

their conclusions to those who were 9-17 years old.

 Calvete et al. (2010) report that the most common forms of attacks include

“writing embarrassing rumors or comments” about peers, shaming them in front

of others, various forms of exclusion, and even compromising a victim’s e-

mail account in order to impersonate and discredit (p. 1133). They also

argue that there is disagreement or vagueness about the various modalities

of cyber-bullying. Citing earlier work by Willard, they add to their list to

include online fights, harassment, and willful harm to a target’s

reputation.

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ii) Internet Addiction And Depression:

It develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social

media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms

of depression.

Robert Kraut (1998) founded that the more people used the Web, the lonelier

and more depressed they felt. After people went online for the first time,

their sense of happiness and social connectedness dropped, over one to two

years, as a function of how often they used the Internet.

Falci and McNeely (2009) founded that adolescents with “very large

[friendship] networks” reported “higher levels of depressive symptoms”

than those with average-sized networks (2044). More specifically, a

curvilinear relationship was found between egocentric network size and

depression, with

depressive symptoms declining as network size increased until a

specific threshold was reached and this trend reversed.

iii) Internet addiction and Sleeping Pattern:

Sara et al. (2007) studied whether high quantity of information and

communication technology (ICT) use is a risk factor for developing

psychological symptoms among young users. Exposure variables, such as

different types of Information and Communication Technology users,

and effect variables, such as perceived stress, symptoms of depression

and sleep disturbances, were assessed. Results showed that high

combined use of computer, mobile phone and online chatting was

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associated with prolonged stress, and while Internet surfing increased

the risk of developing sleep disturbances.

Wing-sze (2008) was the first to study of the impact of online

addiction on insomnia and depression on Hong Kong adolescents. The

findings showed that “internet addiction was associated significantly

with insomnia and depression”. These data imply that possible complex

mechanisms exist between insomnia, internet addiction and depression.

Previous studies have suggested that internet addiction impaired

sleep quality, as internet addicts stayed up late at night or even

lost sleep for late-night log-on.

Christakis (2011) studied the college students at two U.S.

universities to measure their Internet addiction and analyze its

association with sleep and depression. The results showed not only a

cause for concern, but a problem that colleges should address with

preventative approaches. Overall, 4 percent of students scored in the

occasionally problematic or addicted range on the Internet Addiction

Test and 12 percent had moderate to severe depression and sleep

problem.

Internet addiction and Anxiety:

Akin and Iskender (2011) examined the relationships between internet addiction and anxiety, depression and stress. Participants were university students. Results showed that in correlation analysis, internet addiction was found positively related to depression, anxiety, and stress. According to path analysis results, anxiety, depression and stress were predicted positively by internet addiction.

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This research showed that internet addiction has a direct impact on, anxiety, depression and stress.

Goel D et al. (2013) studied the prevalence of internet addiction and associated existing psychopathology in adolescent age group. Using Young’s original criteria, addicts were found. The study was conducted among adolescents and youths. Results showed that adolescents with excessive use internet had high scores on anxiety.

METHODOLOGY:

Locale of study: The descriptive comparative design would be adopt from G.B

Pant University, Pantnagar and the investigator will use stratified random

sampling technique for selecting the required number of samples for the

study.

Selection of Sample: The list of all different colleges of G.B Pant

University, Pantnagar shall be identified for the present study. These

selected institutions shall serve as a research base to identify sample for

the present study that is, respondents for the present study shall be

recruited through the selected institutes. For the survey of sample size of

120 respondents between age group of 17 and above years who were university

students were randomly selected. The age group of 17 & above was chosen

since they are the heavy users of SNS and also early adopters of advanced

technological applications.

Research Instruments to Be Used:

The surveys were done by circulating questionnaires personallyand also some of the data were collected through interview. Thisresearch also involves observation-both direct and participatorymethod, where direct observation was made with the students,their peers and friends which helped knowing some of the factsrelated to the research.

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Internet addiction prevalence in adolescents can be assessed byusing ' Young Internet Addiction Test (IAT)' developed by Dr.Kimberly Young.

To measure the depression, Stress and anxiety associated with theinternet addicted adolescents by using Depression Anxiety andStress scale (DASS) developed by Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, P.f.(1995).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA:

The collected data will be classified and tabulated in accordance with the

objectives to drive the meaningful and relevant inferences. The data will be

analyzed by using statistical techniques like mean, variance, standard

deviation, coefficient of variation, Z- test, chi-square test, correlation

and regression analysis etc.

REFERENCES:

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for

Mental Disorders IV, Text-Revision . Washington, D. C.: American Psychiatric

Association.

Calvete, E., Orue, I., Estévez, A., Villardón, L., & Parilla, P. (2010).

Cyberbullying in adolescents: Modalities and aggressors’ profile.

Computers in Human Behaviour, 26, 1128-1135.

Cao, H., Sun, Y., Wan, Y., Hao, J., & Tao, F. (2011). Problematic Internet

use in Chinese adolescents and its relation to psychosomatic symptoms and

life satisfaction. BMC Public Health, 11.

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Cheung, L. M., & Wong, W. S. (2011). The effects of insomnia and internet

addiction on depression in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents: An exploratory

cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Sleep Research, 20(2), 311-317.

de Graaf, R., Bijl, R. V., Spijker, J., Beekman, A. T., & Vollebergh, W. A.(2003). Temporal sequencing of lifetime mood disorders in relation to

comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders — Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study. Social Psychiatry and

Psychiatric Epidemiology , 38, 1-11.

Ha, J. H., Yoo, H. J., Cho, I. H., Chin, B., Shin, D., & Kim, J. H. (2006). Psychiatric comorbidity assessed in Korean children and adolescents who

screen positive for Internet addiction. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67(5), 821-826.

Kessler, S. (2010) The Case for Social Media in Schools. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school

Kim, Y., Park, J. Y., Kim, S. B., Jung, I.-K., Lim, Y. S., & Kim, J.-H. (2010). The effects of Internet addiction on the lifestyle and dietary behavior of

Korean adolescents. Nutrition Research and Practice, 4(1), 51-57.

King, D. L., Delfabbro, P. H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012) . Clinical interventions for technology-based problems: Excessive Internet and video

game use. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly, 26, 43-56.

Kirschner, P., & Karpinski, A. (2010). Facebook and AcademicPerformance: . Retrieved January 20, 2012, from http://ou-n.academia.edu/PaulKirschner/Papers/164912/Facebook_and_Academic_Performance.

Ko, C.-H., Yen, J.-Y., Chen, C.-S., Yeh, Y.-C., & Yen, C.-F. (2009). Predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for Internet addiction in

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adolescents: A 2-year prospective study. Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 163(10), 937-943.

Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Chen, C. S., Chen, C. C., & Yen, C. F. (2008). Psychiatric comorbidity of Internet addiction in college students: An

interview study. CNS Spectrums , 13(2), 147-153.

Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Liu, S. C., Huang, C. F., & Yen, C. F. (2009). The associations between aggressive behaviours and Internet addiction and

online activities in adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44(6), 598-605

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Teens, Privacy and Online SocialNetworks. Retrieved January 20, 2012,http://pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Society_and_the_Internet/PIP_teens_Privacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf

Manjunatha S., The Usage of Social Networking Sites Among the CollegeStudents in India, International Research Journal of Social Sciences,2(5), 15-21 (2013)Manjunatha S. 2013 A Sociological Study on the Influence of SocialNetworking Sites on the Interpersonal Relationships of CollegeStudents in Bangalore and Mysore Cities of India. InternationalResearch Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 2(6), 12-19, June (2013)

Milani, L., Osualdella, D., & Di Blasio, P. (2009). Quality of interpersonal relationships and problematic Internet use in adolescence. Cyber Psychology &

Behaviour, 12(6), 681-684.

Park, M.-H., Park, E. J., Choi, J., Chai, S., Lee, J.-H., Lee, C., et al.(2011). Preliminary study of Internet addiction and cognitive function in

adolescents based on IQ tests. Psychiatry Research, 190 (2-3), 275-281.

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Park, S. K., Kim, J. Y., & Cho, C. B. (2008). Prevalence of Internet addiction and correlates with family factors among South Korean

adolescents. Adolescence, 43(172), 895-909.

Subrahmanyam K. and Lin G., Adolescents on the Net Internet Use andWell-Being, Adolescence, 42(168), 659-677 (2007)

Vandebosch, H., & Van Cleemput, K. (2009). Cyberbullying amongyoungsters: Profiles ofbullies and victims. New Media Society, 11(8), 1349-1371.

Young, K. (1998a). Caught in the net . New York: Wiley.

Young, K. (1999). Internet addiction: Symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. In L. V. T. L. Jackson (Ed.), Innovations in clinical practice . Sarasota, FL:

Professional Resource Press.

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Questionniare ( The survey will be conducted for research regarding ' INTERNET ADDICTION:

IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS' in

Pantnagar. your participation will greatly help to obtain results ).

NAME - ---------------------------------------

GENDER -

19

Male Female

AGE - -------------------------

1) What age group are you ?

17 - 18 yrs

18 - 19 yrs

19 - 20 yrs

20 - 21 yrs

21 & above

2) Do you use Social Networking Sites ( Facebook , Twitter , Mtspace

etc )

Yes

no

3. What is your father - i) Occupation -

ii) Education -

4. What is your Moyher - i) Occupation -

ii) Education -

5. Do you have computer/ laptop of your own ?

Yes

No

If No , then what is your mode of assessing internet ?

6.What type of Social Networking sites do you use ?

Facebook

Twitter

Myspace

Google circles

Others

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7. Why do you use Social Networking Sites?

Studying

Playing games

Making friends

Chatting with friends

Others

8. How do you often go on these Social Networking Sites?

Once in month

Once in week

2 - 4 Times each week

5 - 6 times each week

Every day

9. How long do you spend on these sites each time you visit ?

less than an hour

1 -2 hrs

2 -3 hrs

3 - 4 hrs

more than 5 hrs

10. To what extent you think Social Networking Sites affecting your study?

Seriously affecting

Slightly affecting

No impact

Slightly helping

Seriously helping

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11. How many friends in total do you have in all of your Social Networking Sites?

0 -10

11 - 50

51 - 100

100 - 250

250+

12. Do you have more friends on your Social Networking Sites in your reallife?

Yes

No

13. Do you prefer to interract with people in Social Networking Sites rather than face to face?

Yes

No

14. Do you ever stay up late or get up early to spend more time on SocialNetworking Sites?

Yes

No

15. Have you ever used Social Networking Sites when a parent or teacher has told you not?

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Yes

No

16. Do you use Social Networking sites through your phone?

Yes

No

17. Select the device you using for Social Networking sites?

Cell phone

Desktop

Laptop

Smart phone

others

18. Have you ever been late handing in an assignment because you spent time on a socialnetworking site instead of doing homework?

Yes

No

19. Would you be recommended other of your age & younger or older to joinsocial networking sites?

If Yes, why?

If No , Why?

20. Do you feel your social networking sites is hampering?

Yes

No

if yes, how ?23

Relationship with friends

Relationship with parents and other elders

Relationship with teachers

Business if you have any

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