Peer-Reviewed Study

Urban and Rural Pattern of Internet Use Among Youth and Its Association with Mood State

Aug 2019 🇮🇳 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care Ages 18–25 PEER-REVIEWED

In this Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care study, Ameer Hamza, Manoj Kumar Sharma, and colleagues surveyed 731 Indian youth aged 18 to 25 in urban and rural settings using standardized internet-use and mood-symptom scales. They found no meaningful difference in internet-use patterns by gender or by urban-versus-rural setting, but did find a significant association between internet-use patterns and depression, anxiety, and stress scores that held across both geographies. The authors recommend that primary-care physicians routinely screen for psychological symptoms alongside internet-use patterns in young patients, rather than treating heavy use as a standalone concern separate from mental health. TechKids Foundation cites this as evidence that internet-use-linked mood concerns among Indian youth are not confined to cities, but appear in rural settings too.

731 youth aged 18–25 surveyed

Sample drawn from both urban and rural settings in India, assessed with the Internet Addiction Test and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale.

No significant urban/rural or gender difference in internet-use pattern

Internet-use patterns were similar across geography and gender, but a significant association with depression, anxiety, and stress scores was found regardless of setting.

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CITATION

Hamza, Ameer, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Nitin Anand, P. Marimuthu, P. Thamilselvan, Pranjali Chakraborty Thakur, N. Suma, Happy Baglari, and Priya Singh. "Urban and Rural Pattern of Internet Use Among Youth and Its Association with Mood State." Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 8, no. 8 (2019): 2602–2606. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_428_19

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