ARSI UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

COURSE: Research and Technical Report Writing

EFFECT OF INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE

STUDENTS IN ARSI UNIVERSITY IN CASE OF DINSHO CAMPUS.

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO INSTRUCTOR MR.REGASA ALEMU

PREPARED BY: -

NO. Name ID

1: Adisu Shibru ccs/ur7717/11

2:Burtukan Eshetu ccs/ur7726/11

3: Teferi Girma ccs/ur7763/11

4: Thomas Tesfa ccs/ur7764/11

5: Tolesa Abdeta ccs/ur7766/11

Febraury 7, 2022

Asella,Ethiopia
 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

Acknowledgements

First of all thanks to God for helping us to overcome this research.

secondly, we would like to thanks our teacher Mr. Regasa A. for giving us this research this
research proposal will help us to know more about research course and will make us fit for
our fourth year industrial project. As well as help us to know the basic requirements or
ways of writing a proposal which is essential not only for now but also for the future.
In addition we would like to thanks students whole sharing their ideas for helping us by
giving their opinion.

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................................2
Title.............................................................................................................................................................4
List of authors..............................................................................................................................................4
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................5
1:Introduction..............................................................................................................................................6
2:Related work............................................................................................................................................7
3:Outline of the rest of the paper................................................................................................................8
4:Body of the paper.....................................................................................................................................8
4.1.The Effect of Internet Addiction on Emotional Instability..................................................................9
4.2.Emotional Instability and Academic Performance...........................................................................10
5.Summary and Future Work....................................................................................................................12
6.Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................13
List of references.......................................................................................................................................14

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

Title
Effect of internet addiction among university undergraduate students in arsi university in case
of dinsho campus.

List of authors
1:authors

Mohammad Reza Soleymani (Dr.) Assistant Professor in Health Information Technology Research
Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
ORCID ID: http://www.orcid.org/0000-0002-3647-3649. +98-9121508244.
E-mail: ri.ca.ium.gnm@inamyelos
2:

Author: C. Rajeswari, Lecturer, College of Nursing, NIMHANS, Hosur Road, Bangalore-29

Mobile : +91 99808 74360,

E-mail : rajic2007@rediffmail.com

Monitoring Editor: John Torous

Reviewed by Veruska Santos and Adriano Schimmenti
Silvana Karacic, MSc (Public Health) and Stjepan Oreskovic, PhD (Sociology)1
Silvana Karacic, Health Center Sveti Kriz, Cesta domovinske zahvalnosti 1, Trogir - Arbanija, 21224,
Croatia, Phone: 385 21 888118, Fax: 385 21 888337, 
Email: rh.moc-t.ts@zirk-itevs-letoh.

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

Abstract
Nowadays, university students are highly depend on the internet to search for information, social
networking, entertainment, online shopping, and online gaming, among others. Universities
around the world are using the internet to enhance teaching and learning inside or outside the
classroom. Using the internet wisely for the right purpose is beneficial to the students; such as
researching tool, seeking knowledge, enhancing their soft skills, exchanging experience and
knowledge with international students and other parties. While the internet has many advantages
and proves to increase efficiency, it could also be harmful to the students if they become
addicted to it. It may cause emotional instability and low academic.

Therefore, the objectives of this study are threefold: to examine the effect of internet addiction
on emotional stability, to investigate the effect of emotional instability to academic performance,
and to examine the effect of internet addiction to academic performance.

Although the internet has made a significant contribution to our daily life, using too much of it
will lead to addiction, which will negatively affect our life. Internet addiction is defined as the
inability to control one’s urge to use the internet, which eventually causes psychological, social,
school, and/or work difficulties in one’s life . Students, especially the undergraduates aged
between 19 and 24 years old are deemed to be more susceptible to internet .

People who are using the internet excessively are mostly playing online games and browsing
social media.

The side effects of the excessiveness led to anxiety, depression, health problems, school
absenteeism, lying, fatigue, unemployment, decreased job productivity, and social isolation.

The addiction to the internet also could translate to low self-esteem, depression, boredom, and
attention-deficit hyperactive disorder .

Internet addiction has become a behavioral problem globally, especially among youth. Whether
this phenomenon is a concern has not been assessed in Ethiopia. This study investigated the
prevalence of Internet addiction and risk factors for Internet addiction among undergraduate
students at university students in Arsi University in case of dinsho campus.

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1:Introduction
Internet addiction is an increasing problem among university students. The Internet provides
numerous educational advantages, but too much Internet use can lead to unfavorable outcomes
such as social isolation and poor academic achievement.

One of the problems that the Internet has created is a virtual addiction or addiction to the global
web world causing adverse psychological behavioral effects on the users. One of the groups at
higher risk for Internet addiction is teenagers, and since Internet addiction will lead to academic
failure in students, evaluating it among them and its relationship with signs of mental disorders
seems necessary. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study Internet addiction and its
relationship with the symptoms of mental disorders.

we will conducts to research on Internet addiction among the undergraduate students in Arsi
University in case of dinsho campus.

Internet addiction is a common problem in our university students and negatively affects
cognitive functioning, leads to poor academic performance and engagement in hazardous
activities, and may lead to anxiety and stress. Behavioral addictions operate on a modified
principle of the classic addiction model. So the present study aimed to assess the prevalence of
internet addiction and associated factors among university students in Arsi University in case of
dinsho campus.

 Internet addiction was significantly associated with using internet at the college, spending 5 h or
more using the internet per day, and using the internet for social networking.

University students who reported using the internet for social networking were more likely to be
addicted to the internet compared to those who used it for academic purposes.

an excessive amount of time spent on the internet serves as a distraction from schoolwork. This
situation puts students at a disadvantage in as far as academic productivity is involved

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2:Related work
Increased excessive use of the internet has been associated with some problems for the users.
Studies conducted on the students show that internet addiction has been accompanied by major
problems such as the educational drop, reduced the curriculum study, anxiety, reduced
interpersonal relationships, reduced physical activities, irregularity, and nutritional diseases (11-
14).

A research conducted by Hamzah (2007) found that the higher the level of anxiety among
college’s students, the lower their marks in their end-of-semester examination. A similar study
conducted among high school students in the United States found that anxiety appeared to be the
major factor in their failure in the Basic Standards Tests (McCraty et al, 2000).

Other researchers also found similar results (Luigi et al., 2007; Sena, Lowe & Lee, 2007). In
order words, the level of anxiety has a negative association with academic performance.

Stress, pressure or tension, are another signs of emotional instability. One study found that stress
negatively related to academic performance, i.e. the higher the level of stress, the lower the
academic performance (Samaha & Hawi, 2016). When the students spent excessive time on the
internet, they have limited time to study, hence, the students’ stress level increased.

Studies carried out on the students showed that with the increasing the internet use, prevalence of
the internet addiction increases (12, 15, 16). Few studies (9, 17, 18) have reported the higher rate
of internet addiction in men compared the women. Moreover, the results show the relationship
between the internet addiction and the field of the study (12, 19).

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

3:Outline of the rest of the paper

While people could possibly be using the Internet to facilitate and improve their everyday lives
and activities, a growing number report negative consequences due to excessive Internet use.
This may include

 a loss of control over Internet use,social problems caused by a preference for being
online,poor school or work performance due to neglecting activities.
 negative health consequences such as disrupted sleep from spending too much time
online.
 Internet addiction (IA) has been described as ‘‘excessive or poorly controlled
preoccupation, urges, or behaviors regarding computer use and internet access that lead
to impairment or distress’’6 (p. 353).
 The IA components model conceptualizes IA and incorporates tolerance, withdrawal,
relapse, salience, conflict, and mood modification as core symptom criteria for addictive
behavior.

4:Body of the paper

Internet as one of the most important tool for information transfer plays a key role in
disseminating and developing the knowledge boundaries .

The importance of internet technology in the process of education and research cannot be
ignored, although, the excessive use of the internet may lead to the virtual addiction or internet
addiction that has the behavioral and psychological effects on the users. This study aimed to
determine the relationship between the internet addiction of the postgraduate students of the Arsi
university college of business and economics.

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

Data were collected from 50 undergraduate students from campus students using stratified
random sampling techniques. Participants completed a pretested structured questionnaire. Our
findings revealed that more than one third of the respondents had an addiction to the Internet.
Increased grade-point average, higher self-esteem, and higher perceived parental supervision
were protective against Internet addiction, whereas seniority among students and peer pressure
were drivers toward Internet addiction.

The effect of the internet addiction among undergraduate university student has the following:

4.1.The Effect of Internet Addiction on Emotional Instability

Internet addiction as a wide term identifying problems arises from impulse-control and behaviour
that resulted from high psychological dependency towards the internet or inability to control
one’s urge to use the internet.

Addiction towards the internet had shown a variety of negative impact that it has towards their
mood modification, availability of time, the level of tolerance, patience and judgement.

Internet addiction as a compelling behaviour and cognitions directed from the use of internet
which leads to anxiety and agitation in daily life. People who spent most of their time on the
internet are prone to emotional disturbances, and when they were feeling anxious and agitated,
their emotions influenced their behaviour, hence, affected their relationship with others.

Similarly, the researcher has identified that an individual with emotional instability is prone to
have a less interpersonal skill that leads to the inexistence of social activities in their daily life .
Emotional instability or also known as neuroticism in the Big Five Personality trait refers to the
negative emotion such as anxiety, easily upset, insecurity, moody, tense, nervous, and
depression.

Evidence was found that internet addiction causes not only physical and social problems but
creates a psychological disturbance that affects the Big Five Personality in terms of emotional
instability. Numerous studies revealed that internet addiction caused depression among teenagers
and adolescents. The majority of research agreed that the most obvious effect of internet

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addiction is depression. Addiction towards the internet is caused by the lack of attention given to
an individual that cause them to avoid it by seeking attention from the internet.

An individual who spent more time on the internet lacks in an offline social interaction that
leads to alienation and poor relationship with friends and family (Sanders et al., 2000).

As a result, they tend to be more depressed (Liang et al., 2016). Previous studies also reported
that the consequences of depression are extreme tiredness, loss of energy, and concentration
difficulty that may lead to feelings of hopelessness, behavioral alterations, loss of control, school
failure, social isolation, and an increase in family conflict.

Therefore, this study hypothesized.

4.2. Emotional Instability and Academic Performance

internet addiction causes emotional instability among students. Emotional instability often
associated with poor academic performance.

Students who are unable to handle their stress effectively performed badly in their exam (Khan,
Altaf & Kausar, 2013). The students often have difficulties in balancing classes, tests,
assignments, extra-curricular activities, and social life. Inability to handle these challenges can
affect the students’ physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral functions; thus, their
academic performance is negatively affected. The students with emotional instability showed
anxiety and stress; therefore, they lost their motivation to engage in their studies (Noftle &
Robins, 2007).

Consequently, their academic performance deteriorated (Moldasheva & Mahmood, 2014).

Anxiety is one of the emotional instability symptoms. The symptoms are excessive worrying, a
sense of fear, restlessness, overly emotional responses, and negative thinking. It is one of the
major predictors of academic performance. Students with an anxiety disorder are not committed
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to their learning, for instance, they showed a lack of interest in studies, poor grades in exams or
tests and on assignments (Vitasari et al., 2010).

These findings highlight the importance of considering the identified factors in designing
interventions to prevent and control Internet addiction among students.

While students could possibly be using the Internet to facilitate and improve their everyday lives
and activities, a growing number report negative consequences due to excessive Internet use.
This may include a loss of control over Internet use, social problems caused by a preference for
being online, poor school or work performance due to neglecting activities, and negative health
consequences such as disrupted sleep from spending too much time online.

Internet use can also be viewed as a coping response to emotional or social difficulties.

When Internet activities are used excessively to cope with negative affective states (e.g.,
depression or anxiety), and alternate means of coping responses are diminished (e.g., social
support, health promoting behaviour), individuals may find themselves relying on online
activities to avoid negative feelings, possibly leading to IA.

Problematic Internet users are more likely to use avoidance and emotion focused coping
responses than regular Internet users, and is less likely to use adaptive problem-focused coping
responses, with strong positive correlations between IA and avoidance coping found in adult
college students.

Studies of coping response and IA in adolescence are limited; however, the maladaptive coping
response of rumination and acting out are reported to be associated with increased depression
levels.

In the current study, it was hypothesized that:

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 Effect of Internet addiction among university undergraduate students

(a) depression, anxiety, stress, and maladaptive coping would be positively associated with IA;
(b) mental health and coping along with more frequent use of online video gaming, and use of
Internet applications such as social networking sites would predict IA levels;

(c) ‘‘problematic Internet users’’ would show higher levels of maladaptive coping responses than
‘‘regular Internet users’’; and

(d) in adults, avoidance coping would mediate the relationships between

(i) depression and IA, and (ii) anxiety and IA.

5.Summary and Future Work

Future Studies and Limitations The findings of the current study suggest that any future
interventions or research need to consider many different aspects when examining internet
addiction, including coping and psychological distress.

Given that short Internet-based interventions have been found to be effective when treating
substance use related problems, Internet based treatments may also be useful for Internet-based
issues. Given the importance of good communication and liking school in reducing the risk of
suicidal ideations and attempts, it is important to incorporate family, peer, and school
interactions into future studies and interventions.

At the time of the study was conducted to meet the objectives of the study, there are some
limitations that need to be faced and addressed by the researcher. The researcher has adopted and
adapted the theoretical framework to help in the research. To obtain data for this research,
researchers has used a small sample of respondents consisted of final year students .

Therefore, in the future, further research can expand a sample of respondents, by using student’s
part four and part five and also use a different context.

Apart from that, the only choice among respondents of information management.

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Future research will be more interesting if involving respondents from different backgrounds. In
addition, for future research, the researchers suggested that it be done qualitatively, with the
collection of data for research purposes will be better and more interesting.

In future studies, it would be more interesting if the study was conducted in depth on the use of
information technology to assist in increasing student achievement. On the basis of research
literature, theoretical framework and empirical evidence obtained as a result of this study, other
researchers can use it as a starting point to begin further research on the use of the Internet.

The present study has some limitations. First, the crosssectional design means it is not possible to
draw causal inferences from the data and mediation models are only hypothetical.

Second, there is a lack of generalizability of current research findings. The online convenience
sample of Internet users may not represent the general population of Internet users or those with
IA.

6.Conclusion

The study’s findings strongly support the generated hypotheses aim to determine the impact of
internet addiction on academic performance. Emotional instability, as a result from dwelling with
negative feelings such as stress, pressure, and tension followed by excessive usage of the internet
that led to addiction evidently have a significant impact on the students’ academic performance.

All parties must be alert to the harmful effects of internet addiction and the emotional instability
issue. Although our study shows a strong significant result, there are improvements that could be
applied by future researchers. We noted that out respondents are students within the institution,
hence, future research can expand this study by obtaining access to other institution so as to gain
a wider perspective.

In conclusion, this study helps to improve our understanding reasons to the deterioration of
students’ academic performance. This study provides the foundation for future research that
would help educators to understand the relationship of internet addiction and emotional
instability to academic performance. It provides a guideline to developed potential strategies that
would enhance the students’ performance by understanding their emotional state and the effect
of internet addiction.

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students at the University of Isfahan and Shiraz. National Studies on Librarianship and
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6. Danaei Moghaddam D, Khosravi F, Afshar E. The effect of Internet addiction on the

amount of time spent on reading by post-graduate students. National studies on
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7. Razavieh AMF. Study The effect of Internet on the educational and research behavior of
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