Quality of interpersonal relationships and marital satisfaction of young people prone to internet-addictive behavior

Background of this study is determined by the growing role of internet technologies in everyday life and the interpersonal conflicts that arise in the marriages of young people prone to problematic internet use, which leads to decreased marital satis-faction and disruptions in family functioning. There is a need to assess the relationship between the severity of internet-dependent behavior, common in today's technologically advanced world, and the characteristics of family relationships in order to improve the quality of communication between spouses by developing effective strategies for maintaining and developing family relationships and strengthening marriage in the digital age. Objective: To identify the relationship between internet-dependent behavior in spouses and the quality of interpersonal relationships and marital satisfaction of young people as a factor influencing family functioning and adaptation in today's world. Materials and Methods. To test the hypothesis, a study was conducted online using the Yandex Form platform. A total of 78 respondents (39 men, 39 women, and 39 married couples) were interviewed. 40 respondents were in informal marriages, and 38 were in officially registered marriages. The average age was 27.3 years, with a minimum age of 18 and a maximum of 34. The following survey methods were used: Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), S.V. Dukhnovsky Interpersonal Relationship Dialogue Scale, Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI), Dy-adic Adjustment Scale (DAS). The findings were statistically processed. Results. The characteristics of Internet addiction were established: the average score of the general level of Internet addiction was 47.19 (min=26.00, max=79.00), 35.9% showed a low level of Internet-dependent behavior, 64.1% – medium and high levels. An inversely proportional relationship was found between the scales measuring the level of internet addiction (the nonparametric method of Spearman's rank correlation coeffi-cient, p<0.05 and r<0) and the scales assessing the quality of interpersonal relationships and marital satisfaction. It was shown that the more pronounced the internet-dependent behavior of one of the partners in a married couple is, the lower the level of marital satisfaction and the quality of interpersonal relationships in the married couple is. Using ANOVA analysis, statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found for the scales of Constructiveness, Self-Esteem, Dialogic Relationships, General Level of Satisfaction with a Pair of the Studied Psychological Parameters of Interpersonal Relationships, and the level of mari-tal satisfaction among young people with different levels of internet-addictive behavior. A linear regression model of relation-ship dialogic factors in the overall sample of respondents showed (p=0.024) that the severity of internet-addictive behavior in one of the spouses negatively impacts relationship dialogueness. A linear regression model of relationship satisfaction factors in the overall sample (p=0.049) revealed a significant negative impact of time management problems associated with internet addiction on marital satisfaction. Using a linear regression model with a stepwise method, the effect of the compulsive symp-toms scale on the marital consistency factor was revealed (p=0.012, χ=-0.420). Conclusion. The study of the relationship be-tween the quality of interpersonal relationships, marital satisfaction of young people and internet-addictive behavior revealed differences in the level of internet addiction in families where one of the spouses has more pronounced internet-addictive be-havior, the level of marital satisfaction is lower for both partners. A negative impact of the severity of internet-addictive behav-ior on the dialogic nature of relationships in married couples and their intrinsic value as a component of the overall level of dialogueness, as well as the need to spend a long time online on marital satisfaction, was proven. Directions for the creation of programs of effective strategies aimed at improving communication between spouses, reducing conflicts and increasing satis-faction with family relationships are identified.