INTERNET ADDICTION, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between internet addiction and academic performance among undergraduates. The study also identified the differences in internet addiction in terms of gender and place of residence. A total of 100 students were selected randomly from undergraduates who follow B.Com (Special) degree program in University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Internet addiction test (IAT) based on Young’s [1] survey was used with some modifications. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS. The statistical techniques frequency and percentage were used to identify the patterns of using the internet, and independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to examine the differences in internet addiction in terms of demographic factors. Pearson correlation technique was employed to determine the relationship between internet addiction and academic performance. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant negative relationship between internet addiction and academic performance. The results of the study also showed that there were significant differences in internet addiction in terms of gender and place of residence. This suggests that future research need to work on large sample including various degree programs and in universities.