PREVALENCE OFINTERNET ADDICTION AND ITS CORRELATION WITH DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS AMONG YOUTH

Background: Internet isanessential aspect of human life in current age. It forms an undeniablepart of educational, professional, andpersonal life. Internet addiction is currently under consideration to be included under substance abuse section of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. This study was conducted with a rationale of understanding different facets of this emerging mental health problem.Convenience sampling was done. Data was collected by means of a pre-formed, structured questionnaire. Internet addiction assessment scale and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 (DASS21) was used.Pearsons correlation test was used to evaluate the correlation.A sample size of 170 participants was achieved. Mean age was 21.3 + 4.4 years.Prevalence of internet addiction was 45%. In this study, internet addiction test score had a positive correlation with depression, anxiety, and stress (p<0.05).The positive correlation between internet addiction and various psychopathologies shows that internet addiction if present increases their incidence. However, temporal causation needs further evaluation.