Adolescents' Internet addiction: Does it all begin with their environment?

Khansa Chemnad; Maryam Aziz; Azza O Abdelmoneium; Sanaa Al-Harahsheh; Ahmed Baghdady; Fatima Y Al Motawaa; Diana Alsayed Hassan; Raian Ali

doi:10.1186/s13034-023-00626-7

Adolescents' Internet addiction: Does it all begin with their environment?

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2023 Jul 4;17(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s13034-023-00626-7.

Authors

Khansa Chemnad¹, Maryam Aziz², Azza O Abdelmoneium³, Sanaa Al-Harahsheh⁴, Ahmed Baghdady⁵, Fatima Y Al Motawaa³, Diana Alsayed Hassan⁶, Raian Ali⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. khansa.chemnad@outlook.com.
² College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar.
³ Doha International Family Institute, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
⁴ World Innovation Summit for Health, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
⁵ World Innovation Summit for Education, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
⁶ Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
⁷ College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. raali2@hbku.edu.qa.

Abstract

Background: This is one of the few studies that examines adolescent Internet addiction (IA) among Middle Eastern population. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adolescents' family and school environments play a role in their Internet Addiction.

Methods: We conduced a survey that included 479 adolescents in Qatar. The survey collected demographic data, the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ), the Brief Family Relationship Scale (BFRS) and questions from the WHO Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey that assess school environment, academic performance, teacher support, and peer support of the adolescents. Factorial analysis, multiple regression, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Family environment and school environment were negative and significant predictors of adolescent Internet addiction. The prevalence rate was 29.64%.

Conclusion: Results imply that interventions and digital parenting programs should not only target adolescents, but also include entities in the developmental environment of adolescents, i.e. their family and school.

Keywords: Academic performance; Adolescent internet addiction; Family environment; Internet addiction; School environment.