Prevalence of Internet Addiction among Seminarians in a Major Seminary in Kenya

Abstract

The advancement of information communication technology goes hand in hand with some maladaptive behaviours. With increased internet connectivity in Low- and Middle-income countries, Internet addiction has emerged among adolescent and young adult. With limited research on prevalence of internet addiction in Seminaries in Kenya, this study investigated the prevalence of internet addiction among 173 seminarians in a Major Seminary in Kenya. Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. Stratified sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the participants. Study instruments used were the social demographic questionnaire and Internet Addiction Test. Data was analyzed used the SPSS version 23.0. The study revealed that 4.6% of the participants had severe internet addiction whereas 34.1% were moderately addicted to the internet. Thus, the prevalence of internet addiction was 38.7%. The school of Philosophy had the highest prevalence of internet addiction of 47.1%. There was no statistically significant association between internet addiction and the school of formation (p=0.128>.05). Lastly, the study revealed that the seminarians are not always aware of their addiction. There is need for the Seminary authority to carry out random screening on internet addiction develop support programmes to help them not develop internet addiction, while those addicted to be supported.