Loneliness and Presence of borderline Personality Traits as contributing factors in developing Internet Addiction among the Young-adults of West Bengal, India

Loneliness and Presence of borderline Personality Traits as contributing factors in developing Internet Addiction among the Young-adults of West Bengal, India.

Introduction. Nowadays Internet is considered as a source of modern of technology. From gathering knowledge to spending leisure time, internet becomes a necessary part for all of us which leads to internet addiction. As young adults are the age group who are facing various stressors, they are more prone to internet addiction and factors like loneliness and presence of borderline personality disorder traits are thought be some contributing factors in the development of internet addiction as some of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder traits are similar to internet addiction, among this age group. Loneliness is marked by an involuntary separation, rejection or abandonment by other people has been linked to various mental health issues, including addiction and personality disorders. Borderline personality disorder traits, characterized by impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and unstable relationships, may contribute to internet addiction and mental health problems. There is no strong literature support and some vagueness is still exists in the previous literatures.

INTRODUCTION. The internet has revolutionized the way we live, work, and interact with others, offering countless benefits and opportunities. However, excessive and compulsive internet use can have a dark side, leading to a phenomenon known as internet addiction. Also recognized as internet use disorder (IUD), this condition is characterized by a pattern of behavior where individuals prioritize internet use over other aspects of their lives, despite negative consequences. The rapid proliferation of digital technology has led to a paradoxical increase in connectivity and loneliness, with profound implications for mental health. Loneliness is marked by an involuntary separation, rejection or abandonment by other people has been linked to various mental health issues, including addiction and personality disorders. Borderline personality disorder traits, characterized by impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and unstable relationships, may contribute to internet addiction and mental health problems..

Methodology.

Objectives. To see the relationship between Internet Addiction and Loneliness. To see whether Loneliness can predict the change in Internet Addiction. To see the relationship between Internet Addiction and Presence of Borderline Personality Traits. To see whether Presence of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits can predict the change in Internet Addiction..

SAMPLE. Convenience Sampling Method was used. Total 132 young-adults were participated, among them 111 were female and 21 were male. All the participants are at least Higher-secondary passed..

Inclusion Criterions Age range is between 18-30 years Living in West Bengal since birth. Exclusion Criterions People with history of any pshychiatric illness. Minimum educational qualification is !0th grade..

SCALES USED. Internet Addiction Test (IAT) To measure internet addiction ( Dr. Kimberly S. Young). ULCA Loneliness Scale(Version 3) To measure Loneliness (Russel; 1996). IPDE-10 module screening Questionnaire To identify presence of Borderline personality Disorder traits (2007)..

Participants were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criterions and their consent was taken for the participation. An information schedule was made and three self-measured scales were selected (Internet Addiction Test, ULCA loneliness Scale, IPDE-10 module Screening Questionnaire). Then Data was collected through Google forms. Collected data were analysis by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 and the results were tabulated..

STATISTICS USED. To see the relationship between Internet addiction and Loneliness Correlational test was conducted To see whether Loneliness can predict the change in Internet Addiction, Regression Analysis Test was done. To see the relationship between Internet Addiction and Presence Of Borderline Personality Disorder traits, Independent Sample t-Test was conducted as Presence of BPD traits is not a continuous variable. To see whether Presence Of Borderline Personality Disorder traits can predict change in internet addiction, Regression Analysis Test was Conducted..

RESULT TABLES. TABLE-1: Pearson Correlation Test between Internet Addiction and Loneliness.

Groups of BPD Mean Value Std. Deviation t-Value Level of Significance NOBPD 30.13 12.331 2.308 0.05 BPD 36.55 17.047.

Discussion and Hypothesis Testing :. The aim of the present study is to see how Loneliness and Presence of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits are related to the development of Internet Addiction . As lonely individuals have a problem in socialization , they are highly prone to be addicted to internet because being emersed in internet helps them in social escape. Their addiction of internet may have several forms like being addicted to play online games, watching adult content, social media use etc. Some clues from some previous researches supported the idea and their results showed that persons with Internet addiction had higher scores on Loneliness (HM Saadati,2021; Aloma,2014) which is also found by the present study. The results showed that there is a positive correlation between Internet Addiction and Loneliness and as a predictor variable Loneliness can predict 29.9% change of Internet Addiction (dependent variable) significantly..

Personality traits are stables pattern of individuals unique pattern of though, feeling , behaviours which may cause to his various addictions. Persons with the Presence of Borderline Personality disorder traits often feel a chronic sense of emptiness, their mood flactuates often and they have problems in self-image which also leads to internet addiction. They continue using Internet according their mood and to change their mood by chatting, gaming, music listening etc which leads to addiction. . Moreover as they have a tendency to show self-mutilating behaviours , they often use Dark webs, spending too much money in online trading apps and games and also by their reckless Internet use they sometimes face with accidents, missing important appointments , job loss, attention problem, educational problems and other physiological symptoms. The present research illustrated a significant relationship among Internet addiction and Presence of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits which is aligned to existing literature, which revealed that the severity of Internet Addiction was significantly predicted by BPD features , which fully mediated through internet use expectancy for tension reduction and disinhibition (Wu, et.al,; 2016)..

Results also showed that , as a Predictor Variable Presence of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits can predict almost 6% of change in Internet Addiction. Hence, it is clear that both Loneliness and Internet Addiction are related in the development of Internet Addiction..

Implication. Hence the core findings of the study clearly shown that Loneliness and presence of Borderline Personality Disorder traits are contributing factors in developing Internet Addiction among the young- adults of West Bengal, India. So, significant changes need to made in the coping strategies of the persons with internet addiction. Also, This information can be used to plan and design appropriate intervention for individuals who come up with problems to these related issues..

Limitations Limited time and data. Further Scopes Target a larger sample group Use different sampling techniques and methodologies Select other variable Lack of researchers experience. Use of subjective rating scales. Most of the participants are female, from semi-urban places and from middle-class background..

Conclusion. The present study arrives to the conclusion that Loneliness and Presence of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits are found to be the contributing factors in developing Internet Addiction among Young-adults of West Bengal, India..

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