Masters Theses

Abstract

"Understanding negative consequences of heavy Internet use on mental health is a topic that is gaining significant traction recently. A number of studies have investigated heavy Internet usage, especially among young adults in relation to online games, social media and email. While such studies do provide valuable insights, Internet usage so far has been characterized by means of self-reported surveys only that may suffer from errors and biases. In this paper, we report the findings of a two month empirical study on heavy Internet usage among students conducted at a college campus. The novelty of the study is that it is believed to be the first to use real Internet data that is collected continuously, passively and preserving privacy. A total of 69 freshman students were surveyed for symptoms of heavy Internet usage, using the Internet Related Problem Scale, and their campus Internet usage was monitored (after appropriate anonymization procedures to maintain subject privacy). Statistical analysis revealed that several Internet usage features, such as instant messaging, entropy, gaming, web browsing, peer-to peer usage, remote usage, and email usage exhibit significant correlations with symptoms of Internet addiction like introversion, craving, loss of control and tolerance. Although the study found that Facebook and Twitter usage did not show significant statistical correlations with symptoms of heavier Internet usage, it was found that students tending towards heavier Internet usage used those websites less. We believe that this study provides critical new insights into symptoms of heavier (possibly addictive) Internet usage among young adults, which is now a topic of significant concern to the mental health community today."--Abstract, page iv.

Advisor(s)

Chellappan, Sriram

Committee Member(s)

Lin, Dan
Zhaozheng, Yin

Department(s)

Computer Science

Degree Name

M.S. in Computer Science

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Summer 2014

Pagination

ix, 25 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-24).

Rights

© 2014 SaiPreethi Vishwanathan, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Internet users -- Case studies
College freshmen
Internet addiction

Thesis Number

T 10524

Electronic OCLC #

894586341

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