Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate the phenomenon of internet addiction among students of Psychology, as well as the role of resilience and perceived economic hardship in the manifestation of the above phenomenon. The study involved 252 students (233 women, 19 men) of the Department of Psychology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). They completed a self-report questionnaire, which included a scale on resilience (The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale - CD-RISC, Connor & Davidson, 2003), a scale on perceived economic hardship (Economic Hardship questionnaire, Barrera, Caples, & Tein, 2001), as well as a scale on Internet Addiction (Internet Addiction Test, Young, 1998). According to the results, it was found that students of Psychology, despite the fact that due to their studies are more familiar with the issues under study, make excessive and addictive internet use displaying relative behaviors (e.g., uncontrollable internet use, neglect of social life). Also, students’ year of their studies does not constitute a statistically significant differentiating factor for their involvement in the phenomenon of internet addiction. Furthermore, based on path analyses models, it seemed that students' perceived economic hardship indirectly predicts their excessive and addictive internet use (in a positive way), as well as their normal internet use (in a negative way), through their sense of resilience. Respectively, students’ sense of resilience mediates the positive predictive relationship between students’ perceived economic hardship and their behaviors that are indicative of internet addiction. The findings emphasize the need for implementing preventive counseling actions within the university campus focusing mainly on students of Social Sciences, with the aim of establishing a safe internet culture among them, as well as strengthening their sense of resilience, especially in a period of economic crisis.

Keywords:

Students of Psychology, internet addiction, resilience, perceived economic hardship.