Prevalence and Factors Associated with Problematic Internet Use in a Population of Spanish University Students

Abstract

(1) Background: To examine the prevalence, and associated factors of, problematic Internet use in a sample of Spanish university students. (2) Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study of a convenience sample of 698 university students. Self-esteem, alcohol consumption, perceived social support, depression, anxiety, stress and problematic Internet use were evaluated using the Rosenberg, CAGE, DUKE-UNC-11, DASS-21 and Young’s Internet Addiction Test, respectively. (3) Results: Problematic internet use was reported by 21% of respondents. Risk of problematic Internet use was independently associated with the preferred use of the smartphone, time of exposure to the Internet, less perceived social support, problematic alcohol consumption and symptoms of stress and anxiety. We found significant association between problematic internet use and time of exposure to the Internet, residential status, alcohol consumption, self-esteem, perceived social support and psychological distress, after bivariate analysis. (4) Conclusions: A considerable prevalence of problematic Internet use was found; in our sample problematic Internet use was associated with stress, alcohol consumption, anxiety and perceived social support. Strategies aimed at the early identification of problematic Internet use may lead to an improvement in the psychosocial health of the university student population.

Internet Addiction in Socio-Demographic, Academic, and Psychological Profile of College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

“…were more likely to be addicted to the internet compared to students who lived at home. The results of Ramón-Arbués et al (39) also showed that the likelihood of problematic internet use was significantly related to the habitation status of college students. However, the results of this study are not consistent with those of Kivrak and Kivrak (83), who found that dormitory students suffer from internet addiction less than those staying at home.…”

“…In this case, respondents could select one of the following answers for each of the 10 items: never-−0, almost never-−1, sometimes-−2, fairly often-−3, very often-−4. The ranges of the total PSS-10 score indicated: low stress (0-13), moderate stress (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), and high stress (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40). Accordingly, the higher the total score, the more severe the psychological distress.…”

“…The scale consisted of 20 items with the following answers: not applicable-−0, rarely-−1, occasionally-−2, frequently-−3, often-−4, always-−5. Internet addiction was identified as follows: normal level of internet usage (0-30), mild addiction symptoms (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49), moderate addiction symptoms , and severe addiction symptoms (80-100). The IAT scale was composed of six subscales for which precise interval thresholds are not defined.…”

“…Based on these findings, it can be assumed that depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and perceived stress may also prove to be significant predictors in other countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In addition, studies show that individual aspects such as gender, age, residence and academic characteristics also play an important role in problematic internet use (18,32,(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43).…”

Assessing the Association Between Internet Addiction Disorder and Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Nine studies were used to evaluate the association between IAD and smoking (20,37,40,45), suicidal behavior (20,37,39,43) and drinking (37,40,42,45,47,48). The heterogeneity was not significant (I 2 < 50%), and a fixed-effects model was applied.…”