OBJECTIVETo study the status of and the factors contributing to Internet addiction among middle school students in Guangzhou.

METHODSCluster sampling method was used to recruit an urban middle school, a rural junior middle school and a rural senior high school to conduct the survey with the stressful life event questionnaire, the trait-oriented coping styles questionnaire and the Internet Addiction Test.

RESULTSThe majority of respondents were classified as normal users of the Internet (n=1392, 89.2%), with 158 (10.2%) moderately and 10 (0.6%) severely addicted to the Internet. Fifty-eight students had never used the Internet. There were significant differences in gender, the father's education, the 4 dimensions of the stressful life event questionnaire and the coping styles between students with and without Internet addiction. Binary logistic analysis showed that the factors contributing to Internet addiction included passive coping styles, male gender and stressful life event experienced in family and interpersonal communication.

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of Internet addiction is high among middle school students in Guangzhou. Male students with stressful life events in family and interpersonal communication, poor education on the part of the father, and frequent use of negative coping styles are more likely to develop Internet addiction.