Internet addiction and related psychosocial factors among Pakistani population during Covid19

Abstract

Background Internet addiction has surfaced as a significant concern to public health in these unprecedented Covid19 times due to social distancing and lockdown. This study aims to determine the burden of internet addiction and related psychosocial factors among the Pakistani population amidst COVID-19 Methods An analytical cross-sectional survey was broadcasted on internet via google form link which was completed by 1145 Pakistani residents. The outcome variable was Internet addiction and was assessed using the "Young's Internet Addiction Test" (IAT). In addition, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were evaluated using the "Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21" (DASS-21). The multinomial logistic regression was applied, and adjusted odds ratio along with 95% confidence intervals were reported for significant factors associated with Internet addiction. Results The majority of participants were females and youth (between ages 20–24 years). The prevalence of problematic-internet-users (PIU) and addictive-internet-users (AIU) was 27.3% and 11.3%, respectively. The odds of extremely severe anxiety among AIU were approximately three times (Adj OR: 2.6 (1.1–7.1) followed by the odds of having extremely severe depression was 3.14 (95% C.I.: 1.53–6.44) times greater among PIUand odds of extremely severe stress being about five times higher among AIU (Adj OR: 5.42 (1.66–17.68)) as compared to normal-internet-user (NIU). Conclusion Amid Covid 19, the burden of internet addiction was discovered to have surged among the Pakistani populace. This study found that gender, marital status, depression, stress, anxiety, work situation, and mood changes amidst the pandemic are significantly associated with problematic and addictive internet use.

Salud mental en la educación superior en el período de post-pandemia de covid-19

“…Este escenario plantea el interrogante de si la exposición constante a estas experiencias virtuales podría haber influido en el desarrollo de una dependencia psicológica hacia la web (34). Sin embargo, con la vuelta a la presencialidad, es posible que esta facilidad de acceso a formas de entretenimiento virtual haya afectado la capacidad de disfrutar de las relaciones interpersonales cara a cara, en detrimento de las interacciones virtuales (35).…”