Background: Technology has a high influence on our lifestyle. This has a significant bearing on both the physical and mental health of an individual. Young adults spend a significant amount of time on the Internet. Studies have demonstrated that this overindulgence can be problematic. Internet addiction has an adverse effect on academic and occupational outcomes of Young people. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of internet addiction among young adults in Kenya. Method: A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out on young adults from one college in rural setting and one in urban setting. Two questionnaires were administered to the young adults. One was sociodemographic questionnaire and the second one was the Young’s Internet Addiction Test. Results: The overall prevalence of internet addiction was (81.5%). On analysis of the extent of severity of Internet use among young adults, it was found that majority of the young adults were moderate internet addicts (45.6%) followed by mild internet addicts (31.2%), normal internet users (18.5%) and severe internet addicts (4.2%). It was found that reported online activities significantly affect the levels of Internet use among young adults. Association was found between internet addiction and online betting, middle income and parental education as well as the course being taken in the college. Conclusion: Internet addiction both in rural and urban areas in Kenya is high and there is a need to start addressing the problem.
Cite this paper
Kimuge, S. (2021). Prevalence of Internet Addiction among Young Adults in Kenya. Open Access Library Journal, 8, e7864. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107864.
Ruzgar, N.S. (2005) A Research on the Purpose of Internet Usage and Learning via Internet. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 4, 27-32.
Young, K.S. (2017) Assessment Issues with Internet-Addicted Children and Adolescents. In Young, K.S. and de Abreu, C.N., Eds., Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents: Risk Factors, Assessment, and Treatment. Springer Publishing Company, New York, 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826133731.0008
Beard, K.W. and Wolf, E.M. (2001) Modification in the Proposed Diagnosis Criteria for Internet Addiction. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 4, 377-383.
https://doi.org/10.1089/109493101300210286
Young, K.S. (1998) Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1, 237-244. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.1998.1.237
Greenfield, D. (2012) The Addictive Properties of Internet Usage. Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment. 135-153.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118013991.ch8
Young, K. (2015) The Evolution of Internet Addiction Disorder. In Montag, C. and Reuter, M., Eds., Internet Addiction: Neuroscientific Approaches and Therapeutical Interventions, Springer Science Business Media, Berlin, 3-17.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07242-5_1
Young, K.S. (1996) Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1, 237-244.
http://www.netaddiction.com/articles/newdisorder.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.1998.1.237
Davis, R.A., Flett, G.L. and Besser, A. (2002) Validation of a New Scale for Measuring Problematic Internet Use: Implications for Pre-Employment Screening. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 5, 331-345. https://doi.org/10.1089/109493102760275581
American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th Edition, American Psychiatric Association, Washington DC.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Young, K.S. (1999) Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment Innovations in Clinical Practice (Vol. 17). In: VandeCreek, L. and Jackson, T.L., Eds., Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book, Professional Resource Press, Sarasota, 19-31.
Hooda, M. (2014) Influence of Internet Addiction on the Mental Health of Adolescents. GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal GIIRJ, 2, 51.
Salehi, M., Khalili, M., Hojjat, S., Salehi, M. and Danesh, A. (2014) Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Associated Factors among Medical Students from Mashhad, Iran in 2013. International Journal of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, 16, e17256.
https://doi.org/10.5812/ircmj.17256
Gunuc, S. (2015) Relationships and Associations between Video Game and Internet Addictions: Is Tolerance a Symptom Seen in All Conditions. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 517-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.063
Chaudhari, B., Menon, P., Saldanha, D., Tewari, A. and Bhattacharya, L. (2015) Internet Addiction and Its Determinants among Medical Students. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 24, 158-162. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.181729
Berner, J.E., Santander, J., Contreras, A.M. and Gómez, T. (2014) Description of Internet Addiction among Chilean Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study. Academic Psychiatry, 38, 11-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-013-0022-6
Rodgers, R.F., Melioli, T., Laconi, S., Bui, E. and Chabrol, H. (2013) Internet Addiction Symptoms, Disordered Eating, and Body Image Avoidance. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16, 56-60.
https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.1570
Kuss, D.J., Griffiths, M.D. and Binder, J.F. (2013) Internet Addiction in Students: Prevalence and Risk Factors. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 959-966.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.024
Leung & Lee (2012) The Influences of Information Literacy, Internet Addiction and Parenting Styles on Internet Risks. New Media and Society, 14, 117-136.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444811410406
Tsai, H., Cheng, S., Yeh, T.L., Shih, C.-C., Chen, K., Yang, Y.-C. and Yang, Y. (2009) The Risk Factors of Internet Addiction—A Survey of University Freshmen. Psychiatry Research, 167, 294-299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2008.01.015
Poli, R. and Agrimi, E. (2012) Internet Addiction Disorder: Prevalence in an Italian Student Population. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 66, 55-59.
https://doi.org/10.3109/08039488.2011.605169
Ni, X., Yan, H., Chen, S. and Liu, Z. (2009) Factors Influencing Internet Addiction in a Sample of Freshmen University Students in China. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 12, 327-330. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0321
Wankwo, C.N. (2015) Prevalence of Internet Addiction among Medical Students in Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria. Abia State University Medical Students’ Journal, 10, 33-39.
Koross, R. (2016) University Students Gambling: Examining the Effects of Betting on Kenyan University Students’ Behavior. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, 4, 57-64.
Maroma Fabio Ogach (2015) Relationship between Depression and Pathological Internet Use among University Students in Kenya.
http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/14428
Thakur, A., Peepre, K., Vaswani, A., Gupta, K., Verma, A., Singh, D. and Kasar, P. (2017) Internet Addiction, Behavioural Aspects, and Health Related Problems Associated with It: A Cross Sectional Study among Engineering Students of Jabalpur District. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 6. 253.
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20175729
Lu, L., Xu, D.D., Chai, J.-X., Wang, D., Li, L., Zhang, L., Lu, L., Ng, C., Ungvari, G., Mei, S.-L. and Xiang, Y.-T. (2018) Prevalence of Internet Addiction Disorder in Chinese University Students: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7, 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.53
Berner, J.E., Santander, J., Contreras, S.A. and Gómez, T. (2014) Description of Internet Addiction among Chilean Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study. Academic Psychiatry, 38, 11-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-013-0022-6
Pramanik, T., Sherpa, M.T. and Shrestha, R. (2012) Internet Addiction in a Group of Medical Students: A Cross Sectional Study. Nepal Medical College Journal, 14, 46-48.
Ghamari, F., Mohammadbeigi, A., Mohammadsalehi, N. and Hashiani, A.A. (2011) Internet Addiction and Modeling Its Risk Factors in Medical Students, Iran. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 33, 158-162.
https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.92068
Abdel-Salam, D.M., Alrowaili, H.I., Albedaiwi, H.K., et al. (2019) Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Its Associated Factors among Female Students at Jouf University, Saudi Arabia. Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, 94, 12.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-019-0009-6
Ko, C.-H., Yen, J.-Y., Chang, Y.-P. and Cheng, C.-P. (2009) Multi-Dimensional Discriminative Factors for Internet Addiction among Adolescents Regarding Gender and Age: Internet Addiction in Adolescence. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 63, 357-364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2009.01969.x
Chang, F.C., Chiu, C.H., Miao, N.F., Chen, P.H., Lee, C.M., Chiang, J.T. and Pan, Y.C. (2015) The Relationship between Parental Mediation and Internet Addiction among Adolescents, and the Association with Cyberbullying and Depression. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 57, 21-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.11.013
Müller, K.W., Koch, A., Dickenhorst, U., Beutel, M.E., Duven, E. and Wölfling, K. (2013) Addressing the Question of Disorder-Specific Risk Factors of Internet Addiction: A Comparison of Personality Traits in Patients with Addictive Behaviors and Comorbid Internet Addiction. BioMed Research International, 2013, Article ID: 546342. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/546342
Li, W., O’Brien, J.E., Snyder, S.M. and Howard, M.O. (2015) Characteristics of Internet Addiction/pathological Internet Use in U.S. University Students: A Qualitative-Method Investigation. PLoS ONE, 10, e0117372.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117372
Pawlowska, B., Zygo, M., Potembska, E., Kapka-Skrzypczak, L., Dreher, P. and Kedzierski, Z. (2015) Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Risk of Developing Addiction as Exemplified by a Group of Polish Adolescents from Urban and Rural Areas. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 22, 129-136.
https://doi.org/10.5604/12321966.1141382
Kuss, D.J. and Griffiths, M.D. (2011) Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8, 3528-3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528
Smahel, D., Helsper, E., Green, L., Kalmus, V., Blinka, L. and ólafsson, K. (2012) Excessive Internet Use among European Children. EU Kids Online.
https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781847428837.003.0015
Ssewanyana, D. and Bitanihirwe, B. (2018) Problem Gambling among Young People in Sub-Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Public Health, 6, 23.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00023
Xin, M., et al. (2017) Online Activities, Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Risk Factors Related to Family and School among Adolescents in China. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 7, 14-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2017.10.003
Heo, J., Oh, J., Subramanian, S.V., Kim, Y. and Kawachi, I. (2014) Addictive Internet Use among Korean Adolescents: A National Survey. PLoS ONE, 9, e87819.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087819
Siomos, K., Floros, G., Fisoun, V., Evaggelia, D., Farkonas, N., Sergentani, E., Lamprou, M. and Geroukalis, D. (2012) Evolution of Internet Addiction in Greek Adolescent Students over a Two-Year Period: The Impact of Parental Bonding. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 21, 211-219.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-012-0254-0
Yen, J.Y., Yen, C.F., Chen, C.C., Chen, S.H. and Ko, C.H. (2007) Family Factors of Internet Addiction and Substance Use Experience in Taiwanese Adolescents. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10, 323-329. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9948
Lee, C.-S. and McKenzie, K. (2015) Socioeconomic and Geographic Inequalities of Internet Addiction in Korean Adolescents. Psychiatry Investigation, 12, 559-562.
https://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2015.12.4.559
Lin, C.H., Lin, S.L. and Wu, C.P. (2009) The Effects of Parental Monitoring and Leisure Boredom on Adolescents’ Internet Addiction. Adolescence, 44, 993-1004.
Zhou, Z.H., Zhu, H.M., Li, C. and Wang, J. (2014) Internet Addictive Individuals Share Impulsivity and Executive Dysfunction with Alcohol-Dependent Patients. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 288.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00288
