Purpose

This study aims to segment and profile young internet addicts in India and examine their state of well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

Young’s Internet Addiction Test was adapted to identify and profile cohorts among the internet addicts. Diener’s satisfaction with life scale was used to measure the well-being. Convenience sampling was used to conduct an online survey and obtain a representative sample of 320 urban internet users. A mixed-method approach was deployed and exploratory factor analysis followed by k-means cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data.

Findings

Data analysis revealed the existence of three distinct clusters: non-addicts (135), potential internet addicts (n = 128) and addicts (n = 57). Smartphones and tablets were the primary devices for accessing the internet. Wi-Fi and data cards were used by all groups for internet browsing, messaging and visiting social networking sites. The usage hours were higher for the potential internet addicts and internet addicts. These groups also faced considerable internal conflict and dissonance in their inability to control their addictive behaviour and online cravings. The non-addicts were more satisfied with their life conditions and better adjusted than the other two groups.

Research limitations/implications

The incidence of diverse internet addicted groups needs to be validated through a larger sample in other regions and geographies. There is also a dire need to study other vulnerable groups, such as internet-savvy adolescents.

Originality/value

The study found the existence of well-defined segments and identified unique areas of conflict for each group, which subsequently affected their sense of well-being.

中文翻译：

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对年轻的互联网成瘾者进行分析：对其社会福祉的影响

目的

这项研究旨在对印度的年轻网络成瘾者进行细分和介绍，并调查他们的健康状况。

设计/方法/方法

Young的互联网成瘾测试适用于识别和描述互联网成瘾者中的同类人群。Diener对生活量表的满意度被用来衡量幸福感。便利抽样用于进行在线调查，并获得320个城市互联网用户的代表性样本。部署了混合方法，探索性因素分析，然后进行k均值聚类分析和判别分析，以分析定量数据。

发现

数据分析显示存在三个截然不同的类群：非上瘾者（135），潜在的网络成瘾者（n = 128）和成瘾者（n = 57）。智能手机和平板电脑是访问互联网的主要设备。所有组都使用Wi-Fi和数据卡进行互联网浏览，消息收发和访问社交网站。潜在的网络成瘾者和网络成瘾者的使用时间更长。这些群体在无法控制其成瘾行为和网上渴望方面也面临着相当大的内部冲突和不和谐。非沉迷者对他们的生活条件更加满意，并且比其他两组更适应。

研究局限/意义

需要通过其他地区和地区的更大样本来验证各种网络成瘾人群的发生率。还迫切需要研究其他弱势群体，例如精通互联网的青少年。

创意/价值

这项研究发现了存在明确定义的细分市场，并为每个群体确定了独特的冲突区域，从而影响了他们的幸福感。