The influence of internet addiction and time spent on the internet towards social isolation among university students in Malaysia

Abstract

Recent research has shown that there is a connection between Internet addiction and time spent on the Internet with social isolation of the users. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the influence of Internet addiction and time spent on the Internet towards social isolation among university students in Malaysia. A total of 110 respondents who were undergraduate and postgraduate students from four universities participated in the survey. The collected sample through purposive sampling technique was 110 responses which exceeded the minimum sample size. The research instruments for Internet addiction were adopted from Young Internet Addiction Scale Test which consist of 20 items whereas social isolation was measured using the UCLA Loneliness Scale consisting also of 20 items. Time spent on the Internet was measured based on the number of hours the students spent on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram. The questionnaire was distributed via online channels due to the physical constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 and Smart PLS-SEM Version 3.2.8. The measurement assessment showed that the data had fulfilled the composite reliability and convergent and discriminant validities requirements. The findings revealed that the level of Internet addiction, time spent on the Internet and social isolation were moderate. The findings also demonstrated that Internet addiction and time spent on the Internet influenced social isolation among university students.