Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Comparison of Internet Addicts and Non-Addicts in Iranian High Schools

In this study, 1968 high-school students were selected randomly through clustering, who responded to the Persian version of four measures: the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), UCLA Loneliness Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Matson Evaluation of Social Skills. Of the sample, 977 students were Internet users, who were classified into 37 Internet addicts, 304 possible Internet addicts, and 636 moderate users. Since possible addicts, moderate users, and nonusers can all be considered nonaddicts, to make a comprehensive and controlled comparison between addicts and nonaddicts, 37 possible addicts, 37 moderate users and 37 nonusers were matched with the Internet addicts. Results suggest that Internet addicts are lonelier and have lower self-esteem and poorer social skills than moderate users, but not necessarily than possible addicts or nonusers.