The relationship between Internet addiction and depression: A mini-review

Background and Aim: One of the most important features of the advanced society is the use of the Internet in all aspects of life. Increasing use of Internet brings some problems such as Addiction to The internet. The objective of this study was to review of the association between internet addiction and depression in students.Methods: This paper is a systematic review that we propose an overview of the internet addiction and its relationship with depression in students. Searches were conducted across electronic data bases (PubMed, SID, Google-scholar and Proquest) and by limiting studies to the last 5 years in both Persian and English, and articles with full text.Results: According to studies, the relationship between Internet addiction and depression has been reported among adults, adolescents and students. However, the overall rate of addiction to Internet usage among students is higher than that of the general population and adolescents. The rates of depression and anxiety and stress in people who had an Internet addiction were higher than others. The effects of Internet addiction among adolescents include anxiety, depression, mood disorders, low self-esteem, impulsivity, suicide, low levels of physical activity and related health problems such as migraine, back pain, obesity. Meanwhile, depression shows the strongest link with Internet addiction. Some studies indicate that depression can lead people to use problematic use of internet. People with depression are dissociable and like to communicate indirectly with other by internet.Conclusion: According to the findings, depression is important factor for Internet Addiction, So coping strategies are important factors to developing intervention programs and it should be targeted for effective cognitive behavioral therapy in people with Internet addiction.

کلیدواژه ها:

Internet addiction ، depression ، coping strategies ، students ، mini-review