prevalence of internet addiction in iranian high school students a cross-sectional study

introduction: internet addiction is a global problem that caused negative effects on health. the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of internet addiction in iranian high school students in 2014. materials and methods: in a cross – sectional study assessed the prevalence of internet addiction among 381 high school students in ilam, in 2014. the samples were selected by a multi-stage sampling method. data was collected by a two-part questionnaire. the first part of the questionnaire was included the personal characteristics. second part of the questionnaire was internet addiction test (ita) -20. spss software package 16 was used to analyze the data. results: overall 75 (19.7%) students put into the internet addiction group. mild and moderate internet addiction reported in 18.1% and 1.6% of all participants, respectively. there were any cases of sever internet addiction. the mean internet used to be 2.12 ± 2.32 and 3.57 ± 2.7 hours in non-internet addiction and internet addiction groups, respectively (p < 0.000). the mean internet access was 8.11 ± 6.7 and 8.2 ± 5.75 hours in non-internet addiction and internet addiction groups, respectively. conclusion: internet addiction is a serious issue in teenagers. high school students possess a high danger for internet addiction. therefore, education about the proper use of the internet is necessary for high school students.