Determination of the Relationship Between Internet Addiction and the Level of Loneliness Among Nurses

Abstract

AIM: In this study our aim was to compare the socio-demographic factors associated with internet addiction and loneliness level among nurses and determine a correlation between the two. METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with all volunteered nurses (N=361). Who had not had psychiatric diseases, and working in two hospitals, in Balıkesir Province Turkey between January 15 and December 15, 2015. A total of 203 nurses participated in this study, and all data were collected using the personal information form, Internet addiction scale and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Ethics Committee approval was received for the application of the research. In the analysis of the data, percentages, Mann-Whitney U, One Way ANOVA, Dunnett's test and Spearman correlation analysis were used. RESULTS: The mean internet addiction and loneliness scores of the nurses were found to be lower relative to the lowest and highest mean scores that could be obtained from these scales. Internet addiction scores were found to be higher in males aged 35 years or below, those who used the internet at the service, spent more than 1 h online compared with females aged 36 years or above, those who did not use the internet at the service or spent less than 1 hour online, respectively. A weakly positive linear correlation was found between the loneliness score and problematic social relation and internet addiction of the nurses. CONCLUSIONS: There was a weak positive relationship between loneliness and internet addiction scores in nursing group in the study. Investigation of the internet addiction with a larger sample is recommended.

Prevalence of internet addiction in healthcare professionals: Systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Internet addiction was associated with greater burden of mental problems in residents and with greater fatigue symptom severity and loneliness in registered nurses (Grover et al, 2019; Kaynak et al, 2018; Lin et al, 2013; Prakash, 2017). Due to cross sectional design, the causal relationship between internet use and the risk for developing other mental health complications in healthcare professionals cannot be established from the identified studies.…”

“…Two studies investigated internet addiction in nurses (Kaynak et al, 2018; Lin et al, 2013). Lin with colleagues evaluated internet addiction (Chen Internet Addiction Scale) in 564 registered female nurses in Taiwan and found that 6% of participants had diagnostic and 10% had possible cases of internet addiction (Lin et al, 2013).…”

“…Possible and diagnostic internet addiction was associated with greater self-reported fatigue independently from work unit, shift work, regular self-medication and self-perceived health status. A study from Turkey in 203 nurses reported weak but significant correlation between scores on the Internet Addiction Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale ( r = 0.140, p = .046) (Kaynak et al, 2018). However, the prevalence of internet addiction was not reported.…”

Effect of Internet Addiction on Sleep Quality in University Students

“…Internet is becoming an important part of our daily lives [18]. Internet, which is used for entertainment, communication and education, despite its advantages, overuse causes a problem defined as "Internet Addiction" or "Problematic Internet Use" [4].…”

Determining the relationship between loneliness and internet addiction among adolescents during the covid-19 pandemic in Turkey

“…Consequently, it leads to an addictive use of the Internet ( Büyükşahin & Yıldız, 2017 ). Studies in the literature also report that loneliness is an important factor in the development of Internet addiction ( Anlı, 2018 ; Kaynak et al, 2018 ).…”