Examining the Relationship Between Student School Burnout and Problematic Internet Use

Student burnout and Internet addiction are two of the serious problems that are common among young people. Both are connected with many negative effects on the mental functioning of adolescents. However, so far only few studies have explored these two phenomena all together. The aim of our study was to test the relationship between student burnout (SB) and internet addiction (IA). Specifically, we explored three problems: (i) sex differences in the level of student burnout and problematic Internet use among Polish late adolescents; (ii) correlations between student school burnout and its sub-dimensions and problematic Internet use indicators; (iii) the prediction power of student burnout indicators, quality of social bonds and school functioning characteristics on the level of Internet addiction and its subdimensions. The study was conducted among 230 high school students. The results of the research showed that there were no significant differences between girls and boys in the level of problematic use of the Internet, except that male students assessed their dishonesty about Internet use as higher compared to females. As expected, a higher level of school burnout indicators was significantly connected with a higher level of problematic Internet use. Additionally, school burnout (especially burnout from studying, loss of interest in school and burnout due to parental pressure) and school performance characteristics such as additional classroom lessons and low quality of classmates relationships, significantly predicted the problematic Internet use, which explained 19% of variances in the total score of internet addiction. Our findings confirmed that preventative and interventional strategies developed to reduce IA should include activities that also reduce school burnout. In reducing IA and SB we should include actions targeted not only on the adolescent’s group, but also on the school environment (teachers and schoolmates) and the family environment (parents and siblings).