Association Between Problematic Internet Use, Psychological Well-Being, and Sleep Disorders Among Youth During COVID-19

Abstract

Psychologists can play an important role in understanding and promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as many of the SDGs are connected to both the science and profession of psychology that address prominent global challenges we face such as improving good health and well-being. This study aimed at exploring the association between problematic internet use, psychological well-being, and sleep disorders among youth during COVID-19 pandemic. 448 college students were selected through stratified random sampling and the data was collected using internet usage scale by Robinson and Mukundan, 2016; general health questionnaire - 28 by Goldberg, 1978, and sleep disorders symptom checklist-17 by Klingman, Jungquist, and Perlis, 2017. Results revealed that the problematic internet use of youth had a significant positive association with poor psychological well-being and sleep disorders. Linear regression model depicted that 19% of psychological well-being and 12% of sleep disorders were predicted by browsing sexual sites and influence on behaviour dimensions of problematic internet use.