Sattar Kikhavani; Shaban Roshani; Salahedin Aj; Kourosh Sayehmiri
Abstract
Background and aims: Internet is one of the new technologies whose users are increasing, and internetaddiction is defined as the excessive use of internet. One of the factors that influence internet addictionis depression. The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between internet ...
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Background and aims: Internet is one of the new technologies whose users are increasing, and internetaddiction is defined as the excessive use of internet. One of the factors that influence internet addictionis depression. The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between internet addictionand depression in Iranian users using meta-analysis.Methods: In our systematic review and meta-analysis, a total of 10 articles in Persian and English,published in local and international journals between 2008 and 2014 were selected through searchingin PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, SID, Magiran, Medlib, and Irandoc databases, and the informationwere analyzed using a method of meta-analysis (random effects model). I-square test was used toexamine heterogeneity. Data were analyzed by STATA version 11.2.Results: There were significant correlations between internet addiction and depression (P < 0.05).Hence the mean risk differentiating criteria were estimated to be 0.55 (95% CI: 0.14 to 0.96). Subgroupanalysis showed that the value of a university student was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.04 to 0.88) and of a highschool student was 1.12 (95% CI: 0.90 to 1.34).Conclusion: Our results indicated positive significant correlation between internet addiction anddepression in adolescents and young adults in Iranian users. There was a positive correlation betweeninternet addiction and depression as one of the most important psychological disorders. This issuerequires further attention and study.