Relationship of Teenagers ' Internet Addiction with Their Sociometric Status in The Peer Group

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the relationship of Internet addiction with the peculiarities of relationships with peers in adolescents, in particular, with the sociometric status they occupy in the peer group. Adolescents ' Internet addiction also distorts the process of communicating with their peers, as excessive immersion in the virtual world can lead to a replacement of real communication, difficulties in developing social skills, empathy, and, as a result, social isolation and problems in building healthy relationships. Analysis of the problem of Internet addiction in adolescence reveals the risks of avoiding reality, reducing social adaptation and losing control over time, and disrupting relationships with peers.

Objective. Identification of Internet addiction in adolescence and study of its relationship with sociometric status in the peer group.

Materials and methods. The empirical study used the Kimberly Young Internet addiction test (Internet AddictionTest, IAT), adapted by V. A. Loskutova; a survey of parents aimed at identifying the parental assessment of the time spent by the child on the Internet, the nature of his online activity, as well as the parental view of the impact of the Internet on the child and his social connections; sociometric experiment. The obtained data were processed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

Results. As a result of the study, a significant prevalence of the problem of excessive Internet addiction among adolescents was revealed: more than half of the respondents (55%) were at risk or had pronounced signs of Internet addiction. The analysis of a survey of parents confirmed a high degree of involvement of adolescents in online activity, often with significant time costs, and also showed difficulties in establishing parental control. According to the results of the study, 38.3% of adolescents were at risk, demonstrating excessive Internet addiction and the presence of related problems. 16.7% showed signs of severe Internet addiction. The study of the features of relationships between adolescents and their peers showed a typical distribution of sociometric statuses for this age, but revealed a significant proportion of adolescents who occupy low status positions, which indicates that they have difficulties in integrating into the peer group. 

Discussion. Analysis of the results allowed us to conclude that adolescents with a higher level of Internet addiction tend to occupy a lower position in the system of interpersonal relations in the peer group, which is consistent with the data of recent studies, but this phenomenon needs additional study.

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