Comparative Analysis of Internet Addiction, Loneliness, and Depression between Indian and Indian-International Students

Abstract

Many changes have paved the way in our lives with the advancement of technology and changes in our lifestyles. The present century has witnessed substantial changes in the lives of modern man and the biggest changes in the lifestyle of humans have occurred due to the advancement of technology, especially with the accessibility of the Internet. Factors such as technology and moving to another country for higher education have bought gigantic changes in the lives of international students. Internet addiction refers to the inability to control the preoccupation with using the internet. Loneliness is described as an unpleasant emotion associated with the notion that one’s social interactions, particularly their quality, are insufficient to meet one’s social needs. Previous literature suggests that international students score higher on internet addiction and loneliness but no such study has been done on the students of Indian origin. The present study aims to understand the difference between scores of internet addiction, loneliness, and depression between Indian and Indian-international students. The research design used was between group design. t-test was computed to study the differences in Internet Addiction, loneliness and depression between both the groups of students. A significant difference was seen in the internet addiction and loneliness levels of Indian and Indian-international students whereas no such difference was seen in the scores on Beck’s depression inventory.