STRESS, INTERNET ADDICTION AND SLEEP AMONG ADOLESCENCE

Since internet has been introduced, its usage has been increasing . Stress is common in adolescents which is important predictor for Internet use affecting their sleep patterns. The present study is a cross sectional study carried out for a period of 1 year. School children aged from 14 to 16 years who had stress and those who had been using the Internet for the past 6 months were included. Internet addiction assessed by using Young¿s Internet addiction scale and day time sleepiness was assessed using Epworth Sleepiness scale. Out of 564 students who took part in the study, 44.7% belonged to age group of 15 years, 78.7% were boys, 63.5% belonged to 9th standard, 92.2% had access to internet through Mobiles, 40.8% preferred time to internet use was night, 51.8% students used internet for gaming, 5.7% had Full impact on life and 5% had Severe Excessive daytime sleepiness. Gender, Internet addiction, age and preferred time for internet use had higher odds for day time sleepiness.