Internet Addiction and Personal Maturity of Adolescents: Is There Any Connection?

The chapter presents the results of a study aimed at analyzing the relationships between symptoms of Internet addiction and individual components of personal maturity in adolescence. The research is based on social-psychological approach to personal maturity (by the authors), which interprets it as conformity of personality manifestations to the cultural-adopted normative standards of “adulthood.” Internet addiction is defined according to S. Chen’s theory as a behavior disorder characterized by the main symptoms of Internet abuse and the emergence of related problems. The empirical study involved 1145 12–17 years-old adolescents from various regions of Russia (63.2% females and 36.8% males). Empirical data were collected with the use of the Chinese Internet addiction scale adapted by V. L. Malygin and K. A. Feklisov and the Self-Assessment Scale of Personal Maturity. Statistical processing included correlation (r) and regression (B) analysis. The study revealed a negative impact of reflexive maturity self-assessment (−0.20 ≤ r ≤ −0.12, p ≤ 0.05; −0.20 ≤ B ≤ −0.15, p ≤ 0.001) as well as week positive impact of cognitive and regulatory maturity (0.07 ≤ B ≤ 0.08, p ≤ 0.05 for both cases) on the Internet addiction. The relationship between Internet addiction and personal maturity did not depend on the adolescents’ age and gender characteristics. The results are discussed in the context of identifying the “targets” of psychological assistance in terms of preventing Internet addiction in adolescence.