PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USE, LONELINESS AND PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT AMONG UNİVERSITY STUDENTS

Nowadays, the use of the internet as a communication and information source has been rapidly increasing. As much as the internet has a positive impact on human life, it also brings about some problems. This study aims to explore the relationship between the university students’ problematic internet use, loneliness and their perceived support scores. In this study, the participants were a total of 463 students (319 females and 144 males) studying in different departments at Karadeniz Technical University. Problematic Internet Usage Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support, and UCLA Loneliness Scale were utilized as the measuring instruments. According to the results are a significant predicting problematic internet usage, perceived social support, loneliness, gender, and time spent on-the-net per day.