STUDY OF INTERNET USE AND ITS RELATED VARIABLES AMONG TEENAGERS

The Internet plays a crucial role in the day-to-day lives of the current generation, making things easier and bringing people closer. It offers a host of benefits which can be effortlessly accessed right from the comfort of one's home. It is a significant form of technology that has been found to impact the lives of its users in both positive and negative ways, depending upon the motivations for which it is used. The scientific study of these motivations and their subsequent effects is of utmost importance to gain a deeper insight into the problem. The present study aimed to investigate the impact that Internet usage had on significant life areas of the teenage users with special emphasis on changes in levels of aggression, depression, coping strategies and interpersonal relationships. The sample of the present study included 400 teenaged students belonging to class 9th and 10th from two same gender schools (St Josephs' Girls Convent High School and St. Josephs' Boys High School) and two co-educational schools (Podar International School and Dr. D. Y. Patil High School). The present study followed the Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methods design, wherein quantitative data was collected first through the use of standardized tools after which collection of qualitative data was done through in-depth interviews. Data was obtained through purposive sampling technique. The tools of the study comprised of the Internet Addiction Test, Aggression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory II, Coping Strategies Scale and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation - Behaviour (FIRO-B). For statistically analysing the obtained data, t-Test was calculated to examine the differences related to gender and school type on Internet use. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and linear regression analyses were also carried out to examine the relationship between Internet use and the criterion variables of aggression, depression, coping strategies and interpersonal relationships, with the help of SPSS Ver. 22. Qualitative analysis was obtained with the help of in-depth interviews wherein 40 participants were interviewed. Out of these, 5 teenagers were high scorers, 8 were moderate scorers, 17 were mild scorers and 10 were normal scorers on Young's Internet Addiction Scale. The responses obtained through the interviews helped gain a better understanding into the perceptions that teenagers held with regard to their Internet usage habits..