Abstract :
Increasingly usage of computer technology and widespread Internet dominance has faced many people, particularly university students, and its extreme usage results in mental and psychological disorders. College students are believed to be at high risk with a marked increase in their internet usage worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of internet addiction among university students and determine its impact on life quality. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a multistage sample of 300 Zagazig university students. A self-administered Arabic semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data between September and November 2019. A total of 235 university students had internet addiction versus 65 students with average internet use. Severe internet addition was only detected among 2.3% of university students. Decreased family time was significantly higher among students with abnormal internet use than those with regular use (51.9% versus 20%, respectively). Worse social life was mainly related to internet addiction than normal users (37% versus 13.8%). Parent conflicts increased with spending a lot of time on the internet and decreased significantly when students turned towards regular use (11.1% versus 0% respectively). There were statistically significant relations between abnormal internet use and some physical and psychopathological problems. Internet addiction is a prevalent problem among university students. It harmed university students' health's social, physical, and mental aspects.
