Technostress, anxiety, and depression among university students: A report from Paraguay

Abstract

Background: Although technologies (including information, e-learning, and communication) have been daily employed by University students in the last years, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a considerable increase in their use. Technostress is a modern term referring to levels of stress caused by the prolonged exposure to technology. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the technostress and related anxiety and depression among Paraguayan University students, describing their sociodemographic characteristics and relevant associations. Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study has been conducted. Participants were recruited through an Internet-based survey. Technostress, anxiety, and depression have been assessed with the Technostress Questionnaire (TechQ), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), respectively. Results: A total of 378 participants were included, 74.1% of whom were women. According to the TechQ scores, 47.4% of the participants reported a low/moderate level of technostress whereas 5.2% showed severe scores. About 58.5% of participants reported a GAD-7 score ⩾10, meeting diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety. About 60.3% scored ⩾3 at the PHQ-2 reporting significant levels of depression. Technostress has been significantly associated with levels of anxiety ( p < .001) as well as depression ( p < .001). Conclusion: Our results suggest further research regarding the implications of technostress on the well-being of University students. Specific measures aimed to improve students’ coping with the challenges of technology and technostress should be promoted.

High prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among remote learning students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a meta-analysis

“…Apart from anxiety, stress is another mental health problem that resulted from the use of technology. Utilizing new information-communication-technologies (ICTs), such as laptops, mobile phones, and virtual education, can result in stress, which is referred to as “technostress” in modern parlance ( Torales et al, 2022 ). Some researchers found that the most common technostress consequences are anxiety and depression ( Chiappetta, 2017 ; Lin et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Although online education possesses distinct advantages, such as saving commuting time and flexibility to choose, disadvantages such as online study potentially influencing academic performance and the lack of practical knowledge have also been found ( Ferri et al, 2020 ; Kotrikadze and Zharkova, 2021 ). Apart from the negative effect exerted on the study itself, distance learning also causes many mental problems, such as online anxiety (anxiety aroused from acquiring knowledge through the use of the internet; Warner et al, 2020 ) and technostress (stress aroused from the prolonged exposure of information-communication-technologies; Torales et al, 2022 ). After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many scholars across the globe have paid closer attention to the mental health of students who have undergone (emergency) online learning.…”

Diseño de investigaciones: algoritmo de clasificación y características esenciales

“…Esto se hizo para predecir el número de suicidios en los cinco años siguientes. El análisis permitió calcular el número esperado de suicidios en la población adulta paraguaya para los siguientes años, 2023 a 2027, resultando en 462, 479, 496, 513 y 530 suicidios, respectivamente (54).…”

Networks for the development of research culture at the University: Introducing the Neuroscience Research Students Network

“…En el manuscrito se describe una alta prevalencia de tecnoestrés, así como de personas categorizadas con ansiedad y/o depresión. Se encontró una asociación estadísticamente significativa entre los puntajes de tecnoestrés y las variables de distrés psicológico investigadas, siendo esta investigación la primera de su tipo en el país (6).…”