Relationship between internet addiction and academic locus of control of students in a selected University in Nigeria: Counselling Implications

Abstract

The study identified the various internet activities engaged in by students in a Nigerian University and examined the relationship between internet addiction and their academic locus of control. The sample was made of 250 students selected from a University in Nigeria. An instrument tagged “Questionnaire on Students’ Academic Locus of Control and Internet Addiction QSALIA” was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analysed using spearman correlation, multiple regression and chi-square analyses. The results showed that students’ age (B = 0.160; t = 2.636; p < .05) and sex (B = 0.123; t = 1.983; p < .05) were potent factors of academic locus of control as the students’ internal (r = 0.291) and external (r = 0.374) academic locus of control were positively related to their internet addictive behaviours. Counselling implications were drawn accordingly with respect to the results of the study.

Key words: Internet, Locus of Control, Interpersonal Relationship,Addiction,Undergraduate Students