Exploring the relationship between internet usage with mental health and academic performance

Pages: 317-321
Anindita Das and Dinesh Nagar (Department of Psychology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)

The widespread use of Internet has been continuously escalating after 2000 and today almost every Indian adolescent has access to mobile phones and Internet. With easy access, the youths have the autonomy of use and misuse of Internet. A number of scholars have noticed that the excessive use of Internet adversely affects the mental health and academic performance of the adolescents. The major objective of this study is to examine the relationship between internet usage with mental health and academic performance. The sample was drawn from 8 CBSE schools of Bhopal. A total sample size of 237 from eleventh standard was utilized and the sample was randomly selected from PCM, PCB, and Commerce streams. The standardized scales were used to measure Internet addiction and mental health of the respondents. Descriptive and inferential analysis was used to analyze the data. A significant difference was found in academic grades of students in their tenth standard where PCM and PCB students exhibited higher performance followed by Commerce students. However, the ANOVA result revealed no significant difference on Internet usage and academic grades of students who were in eleventh standard. Finally, a significant difference was found with the PCM students reporting possibility of performance improvement in twelfth standard followed by students of PCB and Commerce. The correlational result indicated the high internet usage contributed positively and significantly with ADHD, ODD, Conduct and Mood Disorder.