Students' Internet Addiction, Academic Self-efficacy and Academic Engagement in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The present study aimed to determine the role of internet addiction in predicting students' academic self-efficacy and academic engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, a sample of 150 students in University of Birjand was selected using convenience sampling method and completed the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) and Academic Engagement Scale (AES). To analyze the data, structural equation modeling with partial least square approach (PLS-SEM) was employed. Results indicated that the path coefficients related to the role of internet addiction in predicting academic self-efficacy and academic engagement were (β=-0.57) and (β=-0.64). The results indicate that internet addiction can account for 33% of the changes in academic self-efficacy and 41% of the changes in academic engagement. According to the findings, it seems that a significant part of the students' self-efficacy beliefs and their active involvement in academic subjects are weakened under the influence of internet addiction. Therefore, implementing effective interventions to manage the use of the Internet among students is highly important.