Internet Addiction Status and Related Factors among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Western Iran

Abstract

Background In recent years, Internet and social media technology use have emerged as an integral tool of human society, and the evolution of technological integration, cyberspace, and web-technology has become a common practice in educational institutions. Internet usage among students has played an indispensable role in learning behavior; however, the excessive usage of the internet and social media leads to internet addiction. This original study has performed a focalized scrutiny on revealing relationships between internet addiction and associated factors among the students of medicine, dentistry, and pharmaceutical departments. Methods This descriptive and analytical study recruited medical students from the Self-governing Education Incubator of Kermanshah. This survey distributed questionnaires among the respondents’ three departments, and this statistical data reported on 420 valid responses of the respondents. They represent first and second-semester medical students of the academic year 2017–2018. The study selected medical students by applying Cochran's Sample Size Formula through Stratified Random Sampling and cross-sectional research design. The survey has utilized a demographic questionnaire of Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) for the data collection. The study analyzed received data by using SPSS version 23 and performed the descriptive statistics, and analytical statistics (t-test and ANOVA). Results The results of the present study established that the majority of subjects were female students (53.3%), and the average age was 23.84 ± 2.14, including the students of all departments. Besides, findings specified that the overall mean and standard deviation scores were 3.34 and ±0.88. Internet addiction revealed mean and the standard deviation score measured for all students 3.29 ± 0.73, 3.17 ± 0.92, and 3.57 ± 0.64 correspondingly. The survey results illustrated that medical students’ internet addiction substantially correlated with demographic variables, such as age, marital status, the field of study, academic term, significant time of consuming the internet, the key reason of utilizing the internet, and daily usage of the internet ( p < .05). Conclusion The results of the study specified that 25% of medical students showed internet addiction. The students are increasingly using the internet, and it has penetrated among students. The design and implementation of adequate educational programs and the application of internet-based efficiency interventions are essential for both knowledge acquisition and medical students’ healthy behavior.

Religious Affiliation, Daily Spirituals, and Private Religious Factors Promote Marital Commitment Among Married Couples: Does Religiosity Help People Amid the COVID-19 Crisis?

“…The literature evidenced that various elements help promote and inhibit life satisfaction of individuals: a specific note of this study described that spirituality and religiosity play an indispensable role as religions help provide psychological resources, which have a positive linkage to psychological wellbeing (Barreto et al, 2015;Taufik et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021). Internet use and innovative strategies amid COVID-19 pandemic provide updated information for better mental health solution (Jafari et al, 2010;Azizi et al, 2021;Khazaie et al, 2021). The scientific community reported that religion is one of the vital factors of the mental health individuals in the COVID-19 crisis, and religious beliefs provide mental relaxation to patients (Fardin, 2020).…”

Social Media Efficacy in Crisis Management: Effectiveness of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions to Manage COVID-19 Challenges

“…The different waves of the current pandemic have created a massive burden and caused health risks for human beings, leading to an increase in the usage of social media applications as people seek the latest news about preventive measures against the COVID-19 disease. People look for precise and correct information related to their health, which has led to more use of platforms of media technologies to stay connected with family members, peers, and friends (83)(84)(85)(86). People seek accurate information related to viral disease, and social media use has helped people find public communication to follow preventive measures (87).…”

The Teaching Design Methods Under Educational Psychology Based on Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence

“…They also pointed out that the integration of education and AI technology can not only improve the teaching efficiency of teachers but also attract students to better integrate into the classroom. Moreover, the system design of AI education in the future is likely to model the learning situation of students, improving the current teaching methods to provide students with a better learning environment (Khazaie et al, 2021 ; Taufik et al, 2021 ). Other experts have proposed that traditional learning methods have to be upgraded and transformed with the integration of education and AI, which can not only provide a good learning experience for learners but also provide related researchers with more basis for improvement in learning principles (D'Mello, 2016 ; Nye, 2016 ).…”