scholarly journals Subjective well‐being and vulnerability related to problematic Internet use among university students with and without disabilities: A comparative study

Author(s):  
Carlos Herruzo ◽  
Antonio F. Raya Trenas ◽  
Rosario Ruiz‐Olivares ◽  
Valentina Lucena ◽  
Javier Herruzo Cabrera ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Raya ◽  
Carlos Herruzo ◽  
Rosario Ruiz ◽  
Valentina Lucena ◽  
Javier Herruzo ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Problematic internet use (PIU) and the psychological variables related to subjective well-being among people with disabilities has received very little attention in scientific literature. OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were to observe whether people with disabilities experience PIU like that of young people without disabilities; to relate PIU to psychological distress and problems in young disabled people, and to determine whether these problems are similar to or different from those experienced by young people without disabilities. METHODS PIU was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and psychological distress was evaluated using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). The sample comprised 1,794 young people (408 university students with disabilities and 1,386 university students without disabilities). RESULTS The group of university students with disabilities showed less PIU than the non-disabled students, but the worst scores in variables referencing psychological discomfort were found among those students with disabilities who also had PIU. CONCLUSIONS PIU is related to bigger problems in disabled people for whom, with regard to problems in social relationships or the probability of self-harm, it represents a higher risk than for people without disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fayez Mahmid ◽  
Dana Bdier ◽  
Priscilla Chou

Abstract Objectives The current study aimed to test the correlation between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being among Palestinian university students. Methods To examine the relationship between the study variables, a correlational study was conducted. The geographical representation of the study sample showed that 48.1% of participants were from urban populations, 48.1% were from rural villages, and 3.8% were from internally displaced people’s camps. Results Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being. Results showed that problematic Internet use was negatively correlated to well-being (r = − .32, p < .01), and positively correlated to eating disorder behaviors (r = .39, p < .01). The regression analysis found that problematic Internet use contributes statistically and significantly towards explaining variance in eating disorder behaviors (B = .46, SE = .08, β = .32). Moreover, well-being contributed in a way that was statistically significant towards explaining variance in eating disorders behaviors (B = − .39, SE = .09, β = − .25). Conclusion The results of our study support previous studies that indicated that problematic Internet use was significantly and positively correlated with eating disorder behaviors, while it was significantly and negatively correlated to well-being among Palestinian university students. Further studies testing this relationship will be crucial in developing interventions to both reduce problematic Internet use and eating disorder behaviors and increase well-being among university students.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257329
Author(s):  
Halley M. Pontes ◽  
Mirna Macur

Objective Although Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is an emerging area of study in psychology, little is known about the unique features of specific subgroups of internet users and their psychosocial vulnerabilities within robust and nationwide populations. Methods The aim of this study was to identify distinct latent groups of internet users based on their PIU risk and to compare their psychosocial outcomes. To achieve this, a nationally representative sample of adolescents of the same grade (N = 1,066, Meanage = 13.46 years, range = 12–16) was recruited from several schools in Slovenia through stratified random sampling. Results A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) revealed a two-class solution, with Class 1 (n = 853, 80%) featuring ‘low PIU risk’ participants and Class 2 (n = 213, 20%) including ‘high PIU risk’ participants. Behaviorally, the main feature of Class 1 denoted ‘time management difficulties’ while Class 2 was best characterized by ‘mood and time management issues’. Further frequentist and Bayesian analyses indicated that Class 2 presented greater psychosocial risk compared to Class 1 due to significantly higher levels of PIU (generalized and across specific PIU subfactors) coupled with lower levels of subjective well-being and self-control. Conclusions Contrary to what was initially envisaged, the two classes did not differ in terms of perceived quality in parent-child relationship. This study shows that PIU patterns and symptom-severity may be developmentally specific, further highlighting the need for clinically age-adjusted PIU screening practices within epidemiological and healthcare settings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932199865
Author(s):  
José-María Romero-Rodríguez ◽  
José-Antonio Marín-Marín ◽  
Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena ◽  
Gerardo Gómez-García

The problematic Internet use (PIU) has become a topic of special relevance since it is a problem that affects the whole world. It has been detected that the population at greatest risk is university students along with adolescents. At the same time, Spain is one of the countries with the highest PIU rate. The purposes of this article were to analyze the presence and degree of Internet addiction among university students and to check the sociodemographic factors that influence the PIU. To this end, 13 hypotheses were put forward and contrasted using a structural equation model. The study adopted a cross-sectional approach by applying the Internet addiction test to a sample of undergraduate students in southern Spain ( n = 1,013). The results indicated a prevalence of PIU among students of almost 12.5% and with a moderate degree of addiction. In turn, the following hypotheses that had a significant effect on the PIU were supported: gender; field of knowledge; living in the parents’ home; Internet daily use for leisure; Internet daily use for academic purposes; number of social networks; sexual orientation; marital status. Finally, the main findings of the study were reviewed, and the main recommendations and implications for mitigating the negative effects of technology and enhancing the positive ones were established.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document