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

Enrique Ramón-Arbués, José Manuel Granada-López, Blanca Martínez-Abadía, Emmanuel Echániz-Serrano, Isabel Antón-Solanas and Michael Nash
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Enrique Ramón-Arbués: Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus Universitario Villanueva de Gállego, Universidad San Jorge, Villanueva de Gállego, 50830 Zaragoza, Spain
José Manuel Granada-López: Research Group Transfercult (H27_20D), University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Blanca Martínez-Abadía: Occupational Health and Prevention Service, Zaragoza City Council, P° de La Mina 9, 50001 Zaragoza, Spain
Emmanuel Echániz-Serrano: Research Group Transfercult (H27_20D), University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Isabel Antón-Solanas: Department of Physiatrics and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, C/Domingo Miral S/N, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Michael Nash: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-12

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.

Keywords: problematic Internet use; university students; stress; anxiety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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