Relations Between the Indicators of Internet Addiction and Socio-Psychological Adjustment in Gifted High School Children

The current studies of Internet addiction and its effects to academic achievement, emotional and social well-being of children and youth remain their relevance, in connection with the increasing role of digital technology in all areas life. The data of many researches indicate positive role of Internet activity in the development and realization of potential and self-improvement of gifted schoolchildren. However they often demonstrate negative influence of Internet passion, increasing of the emotional, social and other psychological problems, as such as problems of self-esteem, emotional estrangement, social isolation and loneliness in too keen users, who display high intellectual abilities. However, effects of Internet addiction to adjustment of intellectual gifted school children remain insufficiently understudied. Due to, aim of our study consisted in comparing the indicators of socio-psychological adjustment in 80 academically gifted students in grades X and XI with different degrees of Internet addiction. All participants were enrolled in the program of advanced education on mathematics based on their school achievements. The Internet Addiction Test by K. Young and the Methodology of Social-Psychological Adjustment by K. Rogers & R. Diamond were used. The data obtained demonstrate high variation of the degrees in Internet addiction indices. Meantime any case of veritable addiction among the participants did not reveal. No significant age and gender differences were found in the studied indicators, except for higher rates of adaptability and compliance in girls, as well as maladaptation and the desire for dominance in boys. Correlation analysis revealed significant and rather strong negative correlations between the following indicators of Internet addiction and Social-Psychological Adjustment: Adaptation, Self-acceptance, Emotional comfort, Internality, ‒ and positive correlations with indicators Dominance and Escapism.

The results are consistent with the idea of the negative impact of Internet addiction on the social well-being of gifted high school students.