The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Depression in Adolescents After the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in various major changes, one of which is in people's use of the internet. The total time people spend using the internet during the Covid-19 pandemic continues to increase significantly, increasing the risk of health problems related to internet addiction. Persistent internet addiction can cause various impacts that can lead to depression, especially in teenagers. This research aims to find out the relationship between internet addiction and depression in teenagers after the Covid-19 pandemic. This is an observational research with a cross-sectional design using KDAI to measure the level of internet addiction and CDI to screen for depression. Respondents were senior high school students aged 14 to 17 years (n = 115), taken using proportionate stratified random sampling. The study results showed that the incidence of internet addiction in teenagers after the Covid-19 pandemic was 27.8% and the risk of depression in teenagers after the Covid-19 pandemic was detected at 57.4%. Therefore, internet addiction has a significant relationship (p=0,001) with the tendency to develop depression in teenagers after the Covid-19 pandemic, with the risk increasing up to 4.1 times.