Influence of Gender and Time Spent Online on Internet Addiction among Adolescents and Youths in South Western, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the influence of gender and time spent online on internet addiction among adolescents and youths in South Western, Nigeria. The study was a cross sectional survey which employed multi-stage sampling technique. The population consisted of adolescents and youths who were either in secondary schools or universities. A total sample of 1878 comprising 1450 adolescents and 428 youths participated in the study. The age range of the adolescent participants was 13 to 19 years with a mean age of 16.5years while that of the youths was 20 -29 years with a mean age of 24.5years. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that gender had statistically significant influence on internet addiction among adolescents and youths at t-calculated = 4.26; 6.07; and 5.29 on the measure of internet addiction and its two components respectively P< .05, df= 1/1876. It was also found that time spent online had significant influence on internet addiction among adolescents and youths in South Western Nigeria F (3, 1874) = 28.60; 26.34 and 21.86 on the measure of internet addiction and its two components respectively). The study concluded that male adolescents and youths are more addicted to internet than female adolescents and youths in South Western, Nigeria. The higher the number of hours spent online by adolescents and youths, the more addictive to internet.