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.
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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.
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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
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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 ?
Myspace
Google circles
Others
20
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
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