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Home > Arhiva > 2018 > Numar: 1 > The role of Social Support on Internet Addiction

 The role of Social Support on Internet Addiction

    by:
  • Mona Vintilă (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, No. 30A Expoziţiei Boulevard, Bucharest, România, E-mail: mona.vintila@e-uvt.ro)
  • Otilia Ioana Tudorel (West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, No. 4th V. Pârvan Boulevard, Timişoara, România, E-mail: otilia.tudorel@e-uvt.ro)

Internet addiction has been defined as a technology addiction, characterized by non-specific online activities that increase the time spent online, causing major disruptions in the life of the individual. Even though the online environment does not necessarily create addiction, the lack of social and family relationships and poor social support can lead to Internet addiction. By strengthening family, social, and personal relationships, and promoting and developing attention to offline activities and interactions, social workers and psychologists could prevent Internet dependency on risk populations. This study aims to analyze the relationship between Internet addiction, social support, age and the amount of time spent online, among Romanian students (n = 391). The hierarchical regression showed that controlling the age and time online variables, a lower level of social support predicts Internet addiction.

Keywords: social support, Internet addiction, time online, age, social work