Evaluation of the relationship between internet addiction and interpersonal relationships in university studentsin Japan.

With the popularization of the internet, internet addiction among the youth has received a lot of attention in recent years. While.the internet is an effective tool for: communication, the youth, who find real-life communication difficult, reportedly overuse,this aspect of the internet However, this is more of an impression based on clinical cases, with few factual findings. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the reality of internet addiction -among university students and to examine the multilateral relationship between internet addiction and interpersonal relationships. We conducted a questibnnaire stirvey among 221 uriiversity students, analyzing the level of internet addiction, relevant interpersonal relationships, personal "charcteristics, and other factors associated with internet use. We found that the number of students who were dependent on the internet was 10 (4.7%) and the number of students with a tendency toward dependency was 98 (45.6%). In interpersonal relationships, internet addiction was significantly correlated with parental overprotection, a sense of contentment from the present parent-child rela- tionship, relationships with friends, number of friends, and availability of free time. In personal characteristics, internet addiction was significantly correlated with social skills and feelings of self-esteem. In other factors, internet addiction was significantly correlated with typing on a message board, video browsing, online gaming, use of a personal computer, desire to escape, distraction, pleasure, and connecting with others. Furthermore, we conducted a multiple regression analysis to consider the effects of these three aspects associated with internet addiction. The results suggest that internet addictionl is promoted by parental overprotection, low self-esteem, having few friends, and passive internet service usage. Thus, education is required to promote careful use of the internet to prevent internet addiction from escalating. Further, it is important to understand and support interpersonal relationships to prevent internet addiction from making life worse.