Symptoms of the risk of Internet addiction and symptoms of Internet addiction measured using Pawłowska and Potembska’s Internet Addiction Assessment Questionnaire in Polish young people aged 13 to 24 years
Keywords:
Internet addiction, Polish youthAbstract
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction and of the risk of Internet addiction in Polish youth aged 13–24 years. The prevalence was estimated on the basis of the scores the participants obtained on Pawłowska and Potembska’s Internet Addiction Assessment Questionnaire (KBUI) and Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT).
Participants: The study was conducted in the years 2010–2011 and included a group of 519 Polish youngsters (352 women and 167 men) aged 13 to 24 years. 206 of the participants (67 boys and 139 girls) attended a secondary school, 113 (48 boys and 65 girls) attended a gymnasium, and 200 were university students (79 men and 121 women).
Methods: The study was conducted using Young’s Internet Addiction Test, a socio-demographic questionnaire, and Pawłowska and Potembska’s Internet Addiction Assessment Questionnaire. KBUI consists of 50 items. The coefficients of reliability for the individual scales were Cronbach’s alpha=0.92 for the Acceptance scale; Cronbach’s alpha=0.92 for Games; Cronbach’s alpha=0.84 for Practical Application; Cronbach’s alpha=0.89 for Internet Addiction; Cronbach’s alpha=0.90 for Pornography; and Cronbach’s alpha=0.93 for the global KBUI scale. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) between the KBUI global score and the global score for Young’s Internet Addiction Test was 0.76. A test-retest was performed within one month on a group of 65 persons, and the following correlation coefficients were obtained for the KBUI scales: Acceptance rtt=0.76; (p<0.001); Games rtt=0.83; (p<0.001); Addiction to Computer Features rtt=0.78; (p<0.001); Internet Addiction rtt=0.88, (p<0.001); and Pornography rtt=0.60; (p<0.001). The correlation coefficient for the global scale was rtt=0.84; (p<0.001).
Results: The participants had a mean score on the KBUI of 48 points with a standard deviation of 29 points. The lowest score on the global KBUI scale was 0 and the highest 189 points (out of a maximum possible score of 200 points).
Persons whose score on the global KBUI scale was within the range of 50 to109 points, i.e. within the range from the mean score to plus two standard deviations above the mean, were considered to be at risk of Internet addiction, and those whose score was two or more deviations from the mean (110 points and above) were considered addicted.
Out of the 519 participants, 3.5% met the criteria for Internet addiction (scored 110 or more points), and 34% met the criteria for the risk of Internet addiction. In the group of 352 women, 2.6% met the criteria for Internet addiction, as measured using the KBUI Questionnaire and 22% met the criteria for the risk of Internet addiction. In the group of 167 men, 6% were addicted to the Internet and 57% met the criteria for the risk of Internet addiction.
By comparison, the participants had a mean score of 39 points (SD=15 points) on Young’s Internet Addiction Test. The lowest score on that scale was 20 points and the highest 96 points (out of a maximum possible score of 100 points). 2.8% of the participants who completed the IAT met the criteria for Internet addiction (a score of 70 points or more) and 39.5% the criteria for the risk of this addiction (a score in the range of 40 to 69 points).
The scoring standards adopted by Young and the authors of KBUI are very similar. Persons whose scores both on the full KBUI scale and the IAT were higher than 2 standard deviations from the mean were considered addicted to the Internet, and those for whom the sum of points on the full scale of both questionnaires was within the range from the mean score to two standard deviations above the mean were considered to be at risk of Internet addiction.
Conclusion: 1. Significantly more men than women meet the criteria for Internet addiction and the risk of Internet addiction
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