The Study of the Relationship between Internet Addiction and Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Students of Islamic Azad University of Birjand

Objective: The present study has been done to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and depression, anxiety and stress among the students of Islamic Azad University of Birjand. Methods: This study is a correlative one and the statistical population included all students of Islamic Azad University of Birjand who were educating in the academic year 2013-2014 that based on the information obtained from the university their number is 6450 students. Of these, 209 individuals were randomly selected, that 133 individuals were male and 76 individuals were female. The instrument of collecting data was the standard questionnaire of Internet addiction, depression, anxiety and stress. To analyze data, the tables and graphs of the frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation in the descriptive part and the Pearson correlation and regression analysis in analytical part were used. Results: The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between addiction to the Internet and anxiety, stress, depression as a whole and all its components. The regression results also indicated that in general, addiction to the Internet can predict about 17% of depression variable, 20% of anxiety variable and 13% of stress variable. Conclusion: The study of the underlying causes of Internet addiction and consequently, prevention of it seems necessary based on the findings of this study.