Academic And Personal Challenges Among Adolescents: An Association Between Internet Addiction and Various Psychological Correlates

In recent years, the internet has become an important resource in an adolescent’s life. However, its excessive usage leads to addiction (IA), paving the way for many mental health challenges. Internet usage and IA are related to vulnerability and psychological, family and social stress (Kormas et al., 2011). IA generally causes depression, anxiety, and a sense of isolation, thus a considerable number of individuals with IA experience stress and exhibit low self-esteem (Milani et al., 2009). This study aims to identify if there is a relationship between an adolescent’s internet habits and some specific challenges faced by them, namely academic and personal challenges. Academic challenges include: self-handicapping behaviors, procrastination and motivation to achieve and personal challenges include: self-esteem and body image issues. The sample size is 65 adolescent boys and girls of the age group 14-17 years from various schools across Chennai. Data is collected using questionnaires through google forms after obtaining consent from parents. The following questionnaires are used- Self-Handicapping Scale, Procrastination Assessment Scale- Students, Achievement Motivation Scale, Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale, Adolescents Body Image Satisfaction Scale for Males and Body Shape Questionnaire for Females. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s product moment correlation is utilized for data analysis. The intention of the study is to identify if adolescents who spend less time on the internet face lesser academic and personal challenges as compared to those who spend long hours on the internet. The investigation observed that Internet Addiction had a significant relationship with Self Esteem and Self Handicapping behavior.