Prevalence and Possible Attributes of Internet Addiction Disorder among Students of University of Kerbala

Hayder Hassan Aziz Abduallah; Salam Sahib Obaid; Baydaa Ibrahim Salman; Ali A. Kadhim Abutiheen

doi:10.70863/karbalajm.v14i1.857

المؤلفون

Hayder Hassan Aziz Abduallah Primary Health Care Department \Karbala Health Directorate, Karbala, Iraq
Salam Sahib Obaid Primary Health Care Department \Karbala Health Directorate, Karbala, Iraq
Baydaa Ibrahim Salman Primary Health Care Department \Karbala Health Directorate, Karbala, Iraq
Ali A. Kadhim Abutiheen University of Kerbala - College of Medicine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70863/karbalajm.v14i1.857

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Internet addiction (IA), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), University students, Kerbala

الملخص

Background: Internet usage is tremendously growing, but misuse and overuse lead to negative results at the psychological, social physical levels, and academic of the people, especially for students. This is called Internet Addiction (IA). IA is a growing problem worldwide among young people including university students.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of IA among university students and to identify associated factors with IA.

Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 559 students of the first and third stages in four randomly selected colleges in the University of Kerbala. Data collection was done from 26th March to 29th April 2018, A self-administered questionnaire was used based on Arabic versions of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Analysis of the data was done by using SPSS version 20.

Results: The prevalence of IA was 68.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 65.1%-72.5%) and severe IA was10.2 %( 95% CI: 7.7% -12.7%). IA levels were significantly associated with male gender, excessive Internet use, lower sleeping hours, sleeping late, difficulty in awakening in the morning, and lower academic performance. Further, internet addicts showed a higher prevalence of headache, backache, and hand pain.

Conclusion: High level of IA was recognized among university students. IA levels are significantly higher among males. There was a positive association between IA and excessive internet usage, poor sleep habits, and lower academic performance. Those with higher IA levels have a higher prevalence of backache, headache, eye pain or redness, and pain in the hands because of sitting online for long periods.

المراجع

Capetillo-Ventura N, Juárez-Treviño M. Internet addiction in university medical students. Medicina universitaria. 2015;17(67):88-93.

Internet World Stats Blog report 2017 [cited July 5, 2018]. Available from: http://internetworldstats.com.

Internet live stats . Internet Users by Country 2016 [cited July 6, 2018]. Available from: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/.

Internet ward stats .Arabic Speaking Internet Users Statistics [cited July 6, 2018]. Available from: https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats19.htm#arabic.

Internet world status. Iraq Internet Usage and Telecommunications 2018 [cited July 7, 2018]. Available from: https://www.internetworldstats.com/me/iq.htm.

Young KS, Rogers RC. The relationship between depression and Internet addiction. Cyberpsychology & behavior. 1998;1(1):25-8.

Marks I. Behavioural (non‐chemical) addictions. British Journal of Addiction. 1990;85(11):1389-94.

Bai Y-M, Lin C-C, Chen J-Y. Internet addiction disorder among clients of a virtual clinic. Psychiatric services. 2001;52(10):1397-.

Noh D, Kim S. Dysfunctional attitude mediates the relationship between psychopathology and Internet addiction among Korean college students: A cross‐sectional observational study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 2016;25(6):588-97.

Odacı H, Kalkan M. Problematic Internet use, loneliness and dating anxiety among young adult university students. Computers & Education. 2010;55(3):1091-7.

Young KS. Internet addiction: symptoms, evaluation and treatment. Innovations in clinical practice: A source book. 1999;17:19-31.

Young KS. Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology & behavior. 1998;1(3):237-44.

Krishnamurthy S, Chetlapalli SK. Internet addiction: Prevalence and risk factors: A cross-sectional study among college students in Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India. Indian journal of public health. 2015;59(2):115.

Frangos CC, Frangos CC, Sotiropoulos I, editors. A meta-analysis of the reliability of Young's Internet addiction test. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering; 2012.

Widyanto L, McMurran M. The psychometric properties of the internet addiction test. Cyberpsychology & behavior. 2004;7(4):443-50.

Hawi NS. Arabic validation of the Internet addiction test. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 2013;16(3):200-4.

Ma'jel SM, Brism AA. Internet addiction and its relation with some variables for university students. Journal of Misan Researches.2016;12(24):1-35.

Young KS, De Abreu CN. Internet addiction: A handbook and guide to evaluation and treatment: John Wiley & Sons; 2010.

Jassim YS. The internet addiction and it is relationship to psychoogical adjustable and social of physical education and sport sciences in diyala university. Journal of Sport Sciences 2017;9(29):42-56.

Yaaqob HM, Jaffar ZM. الإدمان على الانترنت لدى الفئات العمرية (13-17) و ( 19-22) سنة. Al-Adab Journal 2014;109:641-71.

Desouky D, Ibrahem RA. Internet addiction and psychological morbidity among menoufia university students, Egypt. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015;3(5):192-8.

Alhajjar BI. Internet addiction and psychological morbidity among nursing students in Gaza-Palestine. American Journal of Applied Psychology. 2014;3(4):99-103.

Kamil SH. Internet addiction and its relationship with motivation toward academic achievement at Diyala University Students Al-Fatih journal 2016;12(68): 269-301.

Salehi M, Khalili MN, Hojjat SK, Salehi M, Danesh A. Prevalence of internet addiction and associated factors among medical students from Mashhad, Iran in 2013. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 2014;16(5) e17256.

Koc M, Gulyagci S. Facebook addiction among Turkish college students: The role of psychological health, demographic, and usage characteristics. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 2013;16(4):279-84.

Tsimtsiou Z, Haidich A-B, Spachos D, Kokkali S, Bamidis P, Dardavesis T, et al. Internet addiction in Greek medical students: an online survey. Academic Psychiatry. 2015;39(3):300-4.

National Sleep Foundation. Recommends New Sleep Times 2018 [August 7, 2018]. Available from: https://sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times.

Canan F, Yildirim O, Sinani G, Ozturk O, Ustunel TY, Ataoglu A. Internet addiction and sleep disturbance symptoms among Turkish high school students. Sleep and Biological Rhythms. 2013;11(3):210-3.

Choi K, Son H, Park M, Han J, Kim K, Lee B, et al. Internet overuse and excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences. 2009;63(4):455-62.

Kumar S, Kumar A, Badiyani B, Singh SK, Gupta A, Ismail MB. Relationship of internet addiction with depression and academic performance in Indian dental students. Clujul Medical. 2018;91(3):300.

Yang Z, Asbury K, Griffiths MD. An Exploration of Problematic Smartphone Use among Chinese University Students: Associations with Academic Anxiety, Academic Procrastination, Self-Regulation and Subjective Wellbeing. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2018:1-19.