Internet Addiction, Fatigue, and Sleep Problems Among Adolescent Students: a Large-Scale Study

Abstract

Aim:The aim of the present study was to examine the association between Internet Addiction (IA), fatigue, and sleep problems among university students.Methods: A total of 3,000 Turkish students aged 18 to 25 years were approached and 2,350 students (78.3%) participated in this cross-sectional study from April 2017 to September 2017 in public and private universities in Istanbul. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire including socio-demographic details, lifestyle and dietary habits, Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Fatigue Scale, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]. Descriptive statistics, multivariate and factorial analyses were performed. Results:The overall prevalence of IA among the studied population was 17.7%. There were significant differences between gender, family income, father's occupation, school performance, frequency and duration of watching television, physical activity, internet use duration, and sleep duration (all p<0.001). Significant differences were also found between participants with IA and those without IA in having headaches, blurred vision, double vision, hurting eyes, hearing problems, and eating fast food frequently (all p<0.001). Using multivariate regression analysis, the duration of internet use, physical and mental symptoms, headache, hurting eyes, tired eyes, hearing problems and ESS scores were significantly associated with (and primary predictors of) IA. Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that IA was associated with poor dietary habits, sleep problems, and fatigue symptoms.

Prevalence and Psychiatric Risk Factors of Excessive Internet Use among Northern Bangladeshi Job-Seeking Graduate Students: A Pilot Study

“…Being single (e.g., unmarried, divorced, separated, widowed) has also been identified as a risk factor for IA but this was not found in the present study (although the majority of individuals in the present study were not in a relationship). Studies have also suggested a strong association between IA and poor sleep (Afrin et al 2017;Bener et al 2018;Bener and Bhugra 2013;Islam and Hossin 2016). However, the present study found no such association.…”

“…Using the internet more than 5 h daily has been designated as an important risk factor for IA although excessive use can simply be a function of educational and/or occupational activity (Griffiths 2010;Laconi et al 2018;Salehi et al 2014) and on its own is not necessarily an indicator of problematic use (and excessive use is also not necessarily problematic). Young (2007) suggested that using the internet for more than 38 h a week may result in addiction, similar to Bener et al (2018) who suggested 35 h a week. However, such simple time indicators have been criticized as not taking the context of internet use into account (Griffiths 2010).…”

“…Internet addiction has been associated with a number of socio-demographic variables, time and patterns spent online, psychosocial factors, and comorbid symptoms/disorders (Carli et al 2013;Kuss et al 2017;Kuss et al 2014). Common predictors of IA include socio-demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, residence, relationship status), as well as other factors including sleep disturbance, lack of physical activity, and job status (Afrin et al 2017;Bener et al 2018;Bener and Bhugra 2013;Islam and Hossin 2016;Lai and Kwan 2017;Vigna-Taglianti et al 2017;Younes et al 2016). Generalized IA has also been associated with a wide variety of excessive online behaviors including using the internet for academic purposes, communicating via social networking sites, online gaming, accessing online movie and music sites, viewing online sexually explicit materials and pornography, online gambling, and online shopping (Bener et al 2018;Hoare et al 2017;Simcharoen et al 2018;Vigna-Taglianti et al 2017).…”

The Associations between Problematic Social Networking Site Use and Sleep Quality, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Stress

“…Research by Song et al (2010) reported that internet addiction among adolescents was correlated with depression and sleep problems. Many studies have reported that increased time spent on the internet significantly disrupts sleep-wake schedules and that heavy internet users experience high levels of insomnia (e.g., Bener et al 2019;Choi et al 2009;Jenaro et al 2007;Rotunda et al 2003;Thomée et al 2007). Cheung and Wong (2011) found that both insomnia and internet addiction were associated significantly with depression.…”

A call for replications of addiction research: Which studies should we replicate &amp; what constitutes a “successful” replication?

“…Examples of all possible equivalence testing outcomes from RCTs published in Addiction (panels 1, 3, & 4) & a recent study published in International Journal of Mental health & Addiction (panel 2; no example of this outcome could be identified in trials published in Addiction, likely because this finding typically requires very large sample sizes & small effects)[1]Lintzeris et al (2002), comparison of self-reported heroin use after 8 days between intervention (buprenorphine) & control groups; [2]Bener et al (2019), difference between students with internet addiction disorder (1) vs. "normal" students(2)on question 4 of the 14-item Fatigue Scale ("Do you have problems starting things? "); [3] Petrakis et al (2017), comparison of mean no.…”