Self-Esteem and Internet Addiction Among Adolescents Aged 18–25 Years in Chennai: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The internet has become an integral part of everyday life, particularly for young people, and its increasing use has raised concerns about its possible effects on psychological well-being. The present study examined the relationship between self-esteem and internet addiction among college students aged 18 to 25 years in Chennai. Thirty students participated in the study and completed Young’s Internet Addiction Test and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale through an online survey. The data were analysed using SPSS, and Pearson’s product-moment correlation was used to examine the relationship between the two variables. The results showed a weak negative correlation between self-esteem and internet addiction, r(28) = -.27, p = .149. The correlation was not statistically significant at the .05 level. Although the direction of the relationship was consistent with findings reported in several previous studies, the present results do not provide sufficient evidence of a significant association in this sample. The findings highlight the need for studies with larger and more diverse samples to examine the relationship between self-esteem and internet addiction among young people in the Indian context.