Factors Associated with Problematic Use of Internet in Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the factors associated with problematic use of internet in adolescents. Methods: multicenter, cross-sectional, analytical study. Adolescents from public high schools participated in five states of Mexico. The sampling was simple randomized by clusters. Problematic use of internet was measured with the validated scale (Internet Addiction Test) and social, health, family and academic factors by means of a survey. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to predict variables with p<0.05 as significant. Results: 777 students participated, 30.6% presented problematic use of internet, which was associated with academic factors such as: delay in homework (69.3%; p=0.001), non-attendance to class (14.7%; p=0.001), problems with the teacher (20.6%; p<0.001), lower grades (48.5%; p<0.001). Health factors: decrease in sleep hours (66.4% p<0.001); and social factors such as: conversations with unknown people (51.7%; p<0.001), dates/sentimental relationships with people known through the internet (12.6%/18.1%; p<0.001). Conclusions: problematic use of internet in school adolescents is associated with factors that could affect their academic environment, generate unhealthy risk behaviors or social problems.