Consequences of Internet (mis)use : views among university students and social workers

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to explore views on consequences of Internet use among young people sampled at a Swedish university. Both quantitative and qualitative research designs were used. The quantitative data were gathered by a quantitative survey conducted among 50 university students at the University of Gävle. To broaden the picture, face-to-face interviews were conducted with two social workers (from Sweden and Russia). In order to analyze and interpret the data collected, Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development and learning theory were applied. Symptoms of Internet addiction proposed by Young (1998a) were used to examine whether the data collected demonstrated presence of Internet addiction among sampled university students. The results indicated that the majority of respondents had an excessive use of Internet, however, the female participants and different aspects of their everyday life seemed to be more influenced by Internet use compared to the male respondents. Another conclusion is that the field of social work has to increase the knowledge and competence in diagnosing the symptoms of excessive Internet use. Internet related disorders are problems of increased proportion and mental health counsellors need to be prepared to meet a growing demand in the area of social work.