Problematic Internet Use Was Associated With Psychological Problems Among University Students During COVID-19 Outbreak in China

Abstract

Background: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic progressed globally, school closures and home quarantine may cause an increase in problematic Internet use among students in universities. Such a traumatic stress event may also contribute to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive, and anxiety symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms as well as the predictive role of problematic Internet use in the above-mentioned psychological problems in university students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey of 8,879 students in China between April 20 and April 26, 2020. The presence of PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms and problematic Internet use were evaluated using PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression 9-item scale, the generalized anxiety disorder 7-item scale, and the Young diagnostic questionnaire, respectively. Sociodemographic information and the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward COVID-19 data were also collected.Results: A total of 4,834 (54.4%) participants were female, and 7,564 (85.2%) were undergraduate students. A total of 615 students (6.9%) reported PTSD symptoms; 5.2% (465) and 10.1% (896) reported moderate to severe depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The problematic Internet use was significantly associated with higher risk of PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms (odds ratio 2.662 [95% CI, 2.239–3.165], odds ratio 4.582 [95% CI, 3.753–5.611], odds ratio 3.251 [95% CI, 2.814–3.757], respectively; all P < 0.001). Lower attitude and practice scores also contributed to the risk of depressive, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms (P < 0.05).Conclusions: Psychological problems should be paid more attention, and problematic Internet use may be a predictor when screening high-risk students for psychological problems. Our results will aid in timely psychological screening, which is meaningful in the prevention and intervention of psychological problems.

COVID-19-Related Social Isolation Predispose to Problematic Internet and Online Video Gaming Use in Italy

“…Moreover, a statistically significant mediatory role of COVID-19-related depressive symptomatology was reported in mediating the interaction between the IAT and IGDS. These findings may underline how current COVID-19-induced depressive symptomatology may act as a mediatory trigger in the development and maintenance of behavioral addictions, as already demonstrated in previous studies [37,38,[71][72][73]. Moreover, our findings reported a prevalence which is relatively lower than that reported in the early COVID-19 phases in Italy, with an increasing trend for PIU and IA from phase II towards phase III of the COVID-19 outbreak.…”

“…In fact, the fear resulting from the COVID-19 situation and the lockdown-related consequences, together with high levels of stress and anxiety, have been mounting [28,29]. A number of factors, including the greater time spent at home due to lockdown, alone or with family members, with high levels of uncertainty and worries regarding the future, financial insecurity and fear related to health consequences, not only contributed to increase stress, anxiety and depression, but also to worsen general psychological wellbeing [28,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. This situation may reinforce behaviors such as PIU, problematic video gaming disorder (PVGD), problematic TV series watching, PSMU, watching online pornography or surfing the internet [15,16,18,20,21,41].…”

Internet Addiction, Symptoms of Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Stress Among Higher Education Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Similar findings can be found in previous studies from other countries ( 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 98 ). In this context, problematic Internet use may be a predictor in screening high-risk students for mental health problems ( 30 ). Jiang et al ( 27 ) also revealed that internet addiction was directly related to college students' depression and indirectly predicted students' depression via the mediator of social support and sleep quality.…”

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

“…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.…”

“…When a problem is identified, increased attention is focused not only on the time spent online, but especially on consequences such as loss of control, unsuccessful quit attempts, or disrupted relationships with family and friends ( 26 ). In addition, evidence clearly shows that problematic internet use is a significant predictor of depression, anxiety, and stress in young people ( 27 , 28 ). On the other hand, there are also findings indicating that the presence of common mental disorders may explain problematic internet use ( 16 ).…”