Abstract
The present research investigated the mediating role of insomnia in the relationship between internet addiction and mental health problems in university students. The research was carried out in two phases. In phase I, 1352 students were screened using Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1996) and 703 participants scored higher than the cutoff point thereby showing 52 % prevalence of internet addiction. In phase II, the Bergen Insomnia Scale (Pallesen et al., 2008) and the Mental Health Inventory (Veit & Ware, 1986) were administered on 424 who agreed to be part of the study. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that insomnia was a significant mediator in the relationship between internet addiction and mental health problems (i.e. depression, anxiety, behavioral control, and negative affect). After controlling the effect of insomnia, internet addiction significantly predicted depression and anxiety hence demonstrating a partial mediation effect of insomnia between internet addiction and psychiatric problems. The present findings are important for parents, policy makers and clinician in terms of developing interventions for prevention of internet addiction.
Keyword(s)
Internet Addiction, insomnia, depression, anxiety, behavioral control, negative affect