Effects of internet use on wellbeing and academic attainment of students starting university

Alheneidi, Hasah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7591-1461 and Smith, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8805-8028 2020. Effects of internet use on wellbeing and academic attainment of students starting university. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education 7 (5) , pp. 20-34. 10.20431/2349-0381.0705003

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Abstract

Previous research suggests that internet addiction, or problematic internet use, reduces the wellbeing and academic attainment of university students. A major problem with much of the previous research is that the studies have not controlled for established predictors of wellbeing and attainment. When this has been done, the effects of internet use on wellbeing have no longer been significant, although a negative effect of internet use on attainment still remained. This topic was examined in the present study which also controlled for information overload. 179 first year university students completed the internet addiction test , the information overload scale and the student wellbeing process questionnaire. Correlational analyses showed that internet addiction was associated with negative wellbeing and negatively associated with positive wellbeing. Numerically, internet addiction scores were associated with poorer attainment but these effects were not significant, possibly reflecting the sample size. The associations between internet addiction and wellbeing were not significant when established predictors of wellbeing (positive personality, social support, exposure to stressors and negative coping) were covaried. Further research is needed to extend these findings using longitudinal designs, other samples (e.g. high users of the internet, workers) and assessment of type of internet use.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Publisher:	ARC Publications
ISSN:	2349-0373
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 June 2020
Date of Acceptance:	13 May 2020
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 00:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/131831

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