Assessment of Internet Addiction and Depression in a Sample of Nigerian University Undergraduates

Background: Report has revealed that with about 45.04 million people that use the internet in Nigeria, the country has been named among the 20 top countries that use the internet in the world. Furthermore on a population penetration of 170.2 million people Nigeria’s internet penetration ratio was put at 26.5 percent.

Objective: This study investigated internet addiction and depression in a sample of Nigerian university undergraduates.

Study Design: This is a descriptive cross sectional study design.

Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in Enugu, South East Nigeria between February and April 2015.

Method: The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by Young, the Beck Depression Inventory version two (BDI-2), by Beck et al. and a socio demographic questionnaire were used to assess 510 Nigerian university undergraduates for prevalence of internet addiction and depression.

Results: The data revealed that 29.0% of the respondents showed mild internet addiction, 20.0% showed moderate internet addiction, while 10.2% had severe internet addiction. Furthermore 20.0% and 4.5% of the respondents had mild and moderate depression respectively. No case of severe depression was registered. Equally gender and year of study showed significant differences in internet addiction and depression.

Conclusion: This study observed the prevalence of internet addiction and depression in a sample of Nigerian university undergraduates. It is recommended that if it will be possible university administration with the help of internet providers may try to work out how to monitor the rate of internet usage among undergraduates.