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

José Manuel Granada-López,Blanca Martínez-Abadía,Emmanuel Echániz-Serrano,Enrique Ramón-Arbués,Isabel Antón-Solanas,Michael Nash

doi:10.3390/ijerph18147620

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.

Highlights

The number of Internet users has grown exponentially in the world [1]
Research on disorders related to the use of the Internet began to appear in the biomedical literature in the 1990s but, still today, researchers use different terms and definitions when conceptualizing the problems associated with Internet use
problematic Internet users (PIU) in the population of college students, we aimed to examine and evaluate the prevalence, characteristics, patterns of Internet use and risk factors in a young adult population of Spanish university students at the San Jorge University Campus in Zaragoza (Spain), as well as its associated factors

Summary

Introduction

The number of Internet users has grown exponentially in the world [1]. East Asia, ranges between 70 and 90% of the population [2] and the number of active users in the world far exceeds 4 billion people [3]. Research on disorders related to the use of the Internet began to appear in the biomedical literature in the 1990s but, still today, researchers use different terms and definitions when conceptualizing the problems associated with Internet use. In this way, terms such as “Internet addiction”, “pathological use of the Internet”,

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion