Internet use patterns and the relation between generalized problematic internet use and psychological distress in Portuguese university students

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.

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Internet Use Patterns, Internet Addiction, and Psychological Distress Among Engineering University Students: A Study from India

Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.4103/ijpsym.ijpsym_135_18 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (5) ◽

pp. 458-467 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Nitin Anand ◽

Praveen A. Jain ◽

Santosh Prabhu ◽

Christofer Thomas ◽

Aneesh Bhat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

University Students ◽

Internet Addiction ◽

Internet Use ◽

Use Patterns

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An Explanatory Model of Problematic Internet Use of Southern Spanish University Students

Social Science Computer Review ◽

10.1177/0894439321998650 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089443932199865

Author(s):

José-María Romero-Rodríguez ◽

José-Antonio Marín-Marín ◽

Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena ◽

Gerardo Gómez-García

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Internet Addiction ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Internet Use ◽

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

Equation Model ◽

Problematic Internet Use ◽

Moderate Degree ◽

Cross Sectional

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.

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Problematic Internet Use Among Greek University Students: An Ordinal Logistic Regression with Risk Factors of Negative Psychological Beliefs, Pornographic Sites, and Online Games

Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking ◽

10.1089/cyber.2009.0306 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (1-2) ◽

pp. 51-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Christos C. Frangos ◽

Constantinos C. Frangos ◽

Ioannis Sotiropoulos

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

University Students ◽

Internet Use ◽

Online Games ◽

Ordinal Logistic Regression ◽

Problematic Internet Use

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Problematic Internet Use among University Students and Its Relationship with Social Skills

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11101301 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1301

Author(s):

Miriam Romero-López ◽

Carmen Pichardo ◽

Isabel De De Hoces ◽

Trinidad García-Berbén

Keyword(s):

Social Skills ◽

University Students ◽

Social Relations ◽

Internet Use ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Problematic Internet Use ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Older Students ◽

Positive Feeling ◽

Use Of The Internet

Internet use has been steadily and unstoppably gaining ground in all areas of life, from recreational activities to the establishment of social relations. However, addictive use of the Internet is a problem that seriously affects some people. Factors that may influence the occurrence of inappropriate internet use include age and social skills. For this reason, the aim of this study is to analyze the influence of social skills and age on the development of problematic internet use in university students. The study involved 514 students enrolled at a university in Spain, who filled in two questionnaires, one on problematic internet use and the other on social skills. Multivariate multiple linear regression models revealed that some social skills variables (conversation and social ease, empathic and positive feeling skills, risk coping) predicted problematic internet use. In addition, age played a role in preference for online social interaction and deficient self-regulation. Younger students were more at risk of having obsessive thoughts related to internet use and of engaging in compulsive internet use compared to older students.

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Factors affecting internet use among university students in Sarawak, Malaysia: an empirical study

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20200933 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 848

Author(s):

M. Mizanur Rahman ◽

M. Taha Arif ◽

Fready Luke ◽

Santha Letchumi ◽

Fatin Nabila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

University Students ◽

Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Internet Use ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Problematic Internet Use ◽

The Internet ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Factors Affecting

Background: The internet has become an indispensable tool for communication, academic research, information and entertainment. However, heavy users of the internet lead to less confidence in social skills and the tendency to be isolated. The study aimed to assess the pattern of internet use and factors affecting problematic internet use among university students.Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted among the students of a university in Sarawak, Malaysia. A multistage cluster sampling technique was adapted to select the participants. Data were collected from 463 students by self-administered questionnaire. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analysis was done to determine the potential factors for problematic internet use.Results: The mean age of the students was 22 years, with a standard deviation of 1.6 years. Two-fifths (61.8%) of the students had no problematic internet use. However, 35.4% had moderate and 2.8% had severe problematic internet use. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analysis found that age of the students, year of study, duration of daily internet use and use of social networking like Skype appeared to be potential predictors of problematic internet use (p<0.05).Conclusions: This study was conducted in only one university, thus did not depict the overall scenarios of the country. The implications of the findings are still worth noting in the process of designing internet addiction studies among university students. Overall, this study has unearthed some useful insights which can serve as a guide to more elaborate studies.

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