ВЛИЯНИЕ ПАНДЕМИИ COVID-19 НА ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ И ПРОГРЕССИРОВАНИЕ ИНТЕРНЕТ-ЗАВИСИМОСТИ У СТУДЕНТОВ МЕДИКОВ

Abstract

The number of active Internet users in the world ranges from 80 to 90% in different countries. At the same time, their number increases by 3-5% annually. In this regard, the issues of excessive spending time on global networks are seriously discussed, up to the emergence of an Internet-dependent state and the problems resulting from this. Solving this problem has become noticeably more complicated in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when forced regime restrictive measures were introduced everywhere, which sharply reduced direct communication relationships between people with the transfer of such to remote. The aim is to study the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on the presence of predisposition and formation of Internet addiction among students to develop measures for their prevention. A survey was conducted among students studying at a medical university on the topic "Assessment of Internet addiction". The questions related to the time interval: during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Results and discussion: in the pre-pandemic COVID-19 period, the absolute majority of Internet users had a moderate need for it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people who feel a great need to be on Internet networks has increased dramatically, up to pathological dependence, the need for almost constant online presence, communication with it, viewing all kinds of information, etc. The results obtained are compared with similar studies by other authors. Some similar points were identified, but, while there were certain differences. The conclusion is made about the additivity of excessive uncontrolled enthusiasm for using the Internet, reinforced by restrictive measures from the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of proposals have been made to prevent the occurrence of such dependent states or to reduce their influence.