Relationship between Internet Addiction and Stress Levels among Adolescents in East Jakarta, Jakarta Province, Indonesia

Introduction: Many adolescents have ready access to the Internet. The Internet allows most needs related to communications, banking, education, and various other fields to be achieved regardless of time and location. Although this makes daily life easier, it can also cause issues such as Internet addiction, which is a serious public health problem. Stress is associated with difficulty interacting with others in healthy, positive, and meaningful ways, and has also been associated with Internet addiction. Aims: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between Internet addiction and stress in adolescents aged 12-15 years (grades 8 and 9) from four junior high schools in East Jakarta, DKI Jakarta Province, Indonesia. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and included 315 adolescents (boys: n=149, 47.3%; girls: n=166, 52.7%). Participants completed the Internet Addiction Test and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results: Although most adolescents had moderate stress levels, 23 (7.3%) adolescents had low stress and 18 (5.7%) had high stress. Most (n=281, 89.2%) adolescents had mild Internet addiction and 34 (10.8%) had moderate Internet addiction. We found a weak positive and statistically significant correlation between Internet addiction and stress (Spearman's correlation coefficient 0.345, p=0.000). Overall, 15 (5.3%) adolescents with mild Internet addiction experienced high stress, and three (8.8%) adolescents with moderate Internet addiction experienced high stress. Conclusion: Our findings suggest there is a weak positive relationship between Internet addiction and stress. Increased parental supervision of adolescents' Internet use may be needed use to prevent the risk of Internet addiction. Further research using longitudinal, or case-control designs is needed to clarify the causal relationship between Internet addiction and stress among adolescents.