Authors : Dorra Parv, Allahyar Shahnavazi, Ali Mirbaluochzahi, Tahmineh Salehian and Feiz Alrahman Rasoulizadeh
Abstract: Despite the benefits of the internet, its excessive and misplaced use can bring about the risk of addiction. Several studies have examined its prevalence and factors associated with it in Iranian students in Iran and have obtained different results. So far, no review or meta-analysis studies are conducted in this regard in Iran. This review study was conducted to investigate the studies related to the prevalence of the internet addiction in Iranian students. By searching studies via Google with the Persian keywords internet addiction, students, Iranl and relevant English keywords, about 85 studies were found among which 48 articles lacked the inclusion criteria and four articles were repetitive, thus eventually, 33 articles with inclusion criteria were examined. No time limit was imposed in the search for studies. The results showed that the overall prevalence of the internet addiction in Iranian students is in range of 5.7-67.1%. Moreover, the results showed that the prevalence of internet addiction in boys compared to girls is higher. The results also showed that internet addiction has comorbidity with mental disorders and an inverse relationship was observed between the internet addiction with mental health and self-esteem. All studies were cross-sectional and no longitudinal studies have been done in this field in Iran. The prevalence of the internet addiction among Iranian students in studies conducted in different regions of Iran has a lot of diversity and disparity. It seems that several factors such as methodological variety, determined Yang Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) cut-off score, cultural factorsl and the population studied are involvedl and a variety of variables such as demographic and psychosocial variables associate with it. However, it is not yet clear whether internet addiction leads to psychosocial problems or otherwise addiction to the internet is caused by them or a third factor explains the relationship between them. Larger studies, especially longitudinal studies to determine the exact nature of internet addiction and its relationship with other variables seem necessary.
Dorra Parv, Allahyar Shahnavazi, Ali Mirbaluochzahi, Tahmineh Salehian and Feiz Alrahman Rasoulizadeh, 2016. Studying the Prevalence of the Internet Addiction in Iranian Students: A Review Study. The Social Sciences, 11: 2085-2089.