Research Article
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Possible Demographic, Physical, and Psychological Characteristics Associated with Internet Addiction in Turkish People

Year 2023, , 716 - 723, 01.10.2023
https://doi.org/10.31067/acusaglik.1286477

Abstract

Background: Internet addiction is a growing concern worldwide, affecting individuals of all ages and backgrounds. To date, little is known about the demographic, physical, and psychological characteristics of Turkish adults with internet addiction. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the possible associated demographic, physical, and psychological characteristics of internet addiction in Turkish adults, with the goal of informing prevention and intervention efforts.
Methods: The sociodemographic information collected in this study included age, gender, dominant upper limb, educational status, employment status, size of place of residence and smoking use. The Internet Addiction Scale was used to assess internet addiction. International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess physical activity levels. Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess depression-related symptoms, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess sleep quality.
Results: The participants in the study had an average age of 45 years with a standard deviation of ±9 years, ranging from 18 to 65 years. The multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that among the variables studied, only moderate or severe depression was significantly associated with strong internet addiction with an odds ratio of 11.496 and a p-value of 0.002. None of the other variables showed a significant association with strong internet addiction (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study highlight the importance of considering depression as a potential risk factor for internet addiction. Future research could explore the underlying mechanisms and causal pathways between depression and internet addiction, and investigate potential interventions to address this issue.

Thanks

The authors thank the participants in the current study.

References

  • Cash H, Rae CD, Steel AH, et al. Internet addiction: a brief summary of research and practice. Curr Psychiatry Rev. 2012;8:292-8. DOI:10.2174/157340012803520513
  • Koçak O, Yılmaz I and Younis MZ. Why are Turkish university students addicted to the internet? A moderated mediation model. Healthcare. 2021;9:953. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9080953
  • Lin X, Gu JY, Guo WJ, et al. The gender-sensitive social risk factors for internet addiction in college undergraduate students. Psychiatry Investig. 2021;18:636-44. DOI:10.30773/pi.2020.0277
  • Hassan T, Alam MM, Wahab A, et al. Prevalence and associated factors of internet addiction among young adults in Bangladesh. J Egypt Public Health Assoc. 2020;95:3. DOI:10.1186/s42506-019-0032-7
  • Su W, Han X, Jin C, et al. Are males more likely to be addicted to the internet than females? A meta-analysis involving 34 global jurisdictions. Comput Hum Behav. 2019;99:86-100. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.021
  • Khan MA, Shabbir F and Rajput TA. Effect of gender and physical activity on internet addiction in medical students. Pak J Med Sci. 2017;33:191-4. DOI:10.12669/pjms.331.11222
  • Mari E, Biondi S, Varchetta M, et al. Gender differences in internet addiction: A study on variables related to its possible development. Comput Hum Behav. 2023;9:100247. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100247
  • Yar A, Gündoğdu Ö Y, Tural Ü, et al. The prevalence of internet addiction in turkish adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Noro Psikiyatr Ars. 2019;56:200-4. DOI:10.29399/npa.23045
  • De Ávila GB, Dos Santos É N, Jansen K, et al. Internet addiction in students from an educational institution in Southern Brazil: prevalence and associated factors. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2020;42:302-10. DOI:10.1590/2237-6089-2019-0098
  • Li Y, Zhang X, Lu F, et al. Internet addiction among elementary and middle school students in China: a nationally representative sample study. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:111-6. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2012.0482
  • Bal PN and Turan E. Examination of Internet Use in Terms of Psychological Well-Being. Educational Research and Reviews. 2021;16:296-309. DOI: 10.5897/ERR2021.4170
  • Kumar M and Mondal A. A study on internet addiction and its relation to psychopathology and self-esteem among college students. Ind Psychiatry J. 2018;27:61-6. DOI:10.4103/ipj.ipj_61_17
  • Canan F, Yildirim O, Ustunel TY, et al. The relationship between internet addiction and body mass index in Turkish adolescents. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:40-5. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2012.0733
  • Koca SB, Paketçi A and Büyükyılmaz G. The relationship between internet usage style and internet addiction and food addiction in obese children compared to healthy children. Turk Arch Pediatr. 2023;58:205-11. DOI:10.5152/TurkArchPediatr.2023.22183
  • Tabatabaee H, Rezaianzadeh A and Jamshidi M. Mediators in the relationship between internet addiction and body mass index: A path model approach using partial least square. J Res Health Sci. 2018;18:e00423.
  • Singh LK, Suchandra KHH, Pattajoshi A, et al. Internet addiction and daytime sleepiness among professionals in India: A web-based survey. Indian J Psychiatry. 2019;61:265-9. DOI:10.4103/psychiatry.
  • Wang Y, Zhao Y, Liu L, et al. The current situation of internet addiction and its impact on sleep quality and self-injury behavior in chinese medical students. Psychiatry Investig. 2020;17:237-42. DOI:10.30773/pi.2019.0131
  • Zhang W and Xu R. Effect of exercise intervention on internet addiction and autonomic nervous function in college students. Biomed Res Int. 2022;2022:5935353. DOI:10.1155/2022/5935353
  • Zalewska A, Gałczyk M, Sobolewski M, et al. Depression as compared to level of physical activity and internet addiction among polish physiotherapy students during the covid-19 pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18. DOI:10.3390/ijerph181910072
  • Liang S, Ren Z and Yang G. Cross-sectional and prospective association between internet addiction and risk of fatigue among Chinese college students. Medicine. 2022;101. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000030034
  • Yang G, Cao J, Li Y, et al. Association between internet addiction and the risk of musculoskeletal pain in chinese college freshmen - A cross-sectional study. Front Psychol. 2019;10:1959. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01959
  • Taşvuran Horata E. Investigation of the effect of technology and internet addictions on the musculoskeletal system in university students during the post-pandemic period. Med Sci and Discov. 2022;9:650-5. DOI:10.36472/msd.v9i12.850
  • Aleebrahim F, Daneshvar S and Tarrahi MJ. The prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with mental health among high school students in Bushehr, Iran. Int J Prev Med. 2022;13:126. DOI:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_480_19
  • Jaiswal A, Manchanda S, Gautam V, et al. Burden of internet addiction, social anxiety and social phobia among University students, India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020;9:3607-12. DOI:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_360_20
  • Tian Y, Zhao Y, Lv F, et al. Associations among the big five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and internet addiction across three time measurements in 3 months during the covid-19 pandemic. Front Psychol. 2021;12:654825. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654825
  • Cao F, Su L, Liu T, et al. The relationship between impulsivity and internet addiction in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Eur Psychiatry. 2007;22:466-71. DOI:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.05.004
  • Abdon A, Mesquita R, Lks M, et al. Prevalence of smartphone addiction and associated factors in Brazilian adults. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews. 2020;7:202-11. DOI:10.30574/wjarr.2020.7.1.0254
  • Günüç S and Kayrı M. Türkiye’de internet bağımlılık profili ve internet bağımlılık ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik-güvenirlik çalışması. 2010.
  • Saglam M, Arikan H, Savci S, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Turkish version. Percept Mot Skills. 2010;111:278-84. DOI: 10.2466/06.08.PMS.111.4.278-284
  • Ulusoy M, Sahin NH and Erkmen H. Turkish version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory: psychometric properties. J Cogn Psychother. 1998;12:163.
  • Gámez-Guadix M. Depressive symptoms and problematic internet use among adolescents: analysis of the longitudinal relationships from the cognitive-behavioral model. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:714-9. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2014.0226
  • Leo K, Kewitz S, Wartberg L, et al. Depression and social anxiety predict internet use disorder symptoms in children and adolescents at 12-month follow-up: Results from a longitudinal study. Front Psychol. 2021;12:787162. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.787162
  • Diotaiuti P, Girelli L, Mancone S, et al. Impulsivity and depressive brooding in internet addiction: A study with a sample of italian adolescents during covid-19 lockdown. Front Psychiatry. 2022;13:941313. DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.941313
  • Kuss DJ and Lopez-Fernandez O. Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of clinical research. World J Psychiatry. 2016;6:143-76. DOI:10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.143
  • Kożybka M, Radlińska I, Kolwitz M, et al. Problematic internet use among polish students: prevalence, relationship to sociodemographic data and internet usage patterns. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20:2434. DOI:10.3390/ijerph20032434
  • Gavurova B, Ivankova V, Rigelsky M, et al. Internet addiction in socio-demographic, academic, and psychological profile of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Front Public Health. 2022;10:944085. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.944085
  • Peris M, de la Barrera U, Schoeps K, et al. Psychological risk factors that predict social networking and internet addiction in adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:4598. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17124598
  • Devine D, Ogletree AM, Shah P, et al. Internet addiction, cognitive, and dispositional factors among US adults. Comput Hum Behav. 2022;6:100180. DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100180
  • Önen C, Tunçdemir A, Özer A. Internet addiction of students at the vocational high school of healthcare. BEU J Sci & Technol. 2014;4:23-25. DOI: 10.17678/beujst.76811
Year 2023, , 716 - 723, 01.10.2023
https://doi.org/10.31067/acusaglik.1286477

Abstract

Arka plan: İnternet bağımlılığı, her yaştan ve farklı geçmişlere sahip bireyleri etkileyen, dünya çapında büyüyen bir endişe kaynağıdır. Bugüne kadar internet bağımlısı Türk yetişkinlerinin demografik, fiziksel ve psikolojik özellikleri hakkında yeterince bilgi bulunmamaktadır. Bu nedenle, bu çalışmanın amacı, önleme ve müdahale çabalarına bilgi vermek amacıyla Türk yetişkinlerinde internet bağımlılığıyla ilişkili olası demografik, fiziksel ve psikolojik özellikleri araştırmaktır.
Yöntemler: Bu çalışmada toplanan sosyodemografik bilgiler yaş, cinsiyet, baskın üst ekstremite, eğitim durumu, çalışma durumu, ikamet edilen yerin büyüklüğü ve sigara kullanımını içermektedir. İnternet bağımlılığını değerlendirmek için İnternet Bağımlılığı Ölçeği kullanıldı. Fiziksel aktivite düzeylerini değerlendirmek için Uluslararası Fiziksel Aktivite Anketi kullanıldı. Depresyonla ilişkili semptomları değerlendirmek için Beck Depresyon Envanteri, uyku kalitesini değerlendirmek için Pittsburgh Uyku Kalitesi İndeksi kullanıldı.
Bulgular: Çalışmaya katılanların ortalama yaşı 45, standart sapması ±9 yıl olup, 18 ile 65 arasında değişmektedir. Çok terimli lojistik regresyon analizi, incelenen değişkenler arasında yalnızca orta veya şiddetli depresyonun, 11.496 olasılık oranı ve 0.002 p değeri ile güçlü internet bağımlılığı ile anlamlı şekilde ilişkili olduğunu ortaya koydu. Diğer değişkenlerin hiçbiri güçlü internet bağımlılığı ile anlamlı bir ilişki göstermedi (p>0.05).
Sonuç: Genel olarak, bu çalışmanın bulguları, depresyonu internet bağımlılığı için potansiyel bir risk faktörü olarak görmenin önemini vurgulamaktadır. Gelecekteki araştırmalar, depresyon ve internet bağımlılığı arasındaki altta yatan mekanizmaları ve nedensel yolları keşfedebilir ve bu konuyu ele almak için potansiyel müdahaleleri araştırabilir.

References

  • Cash H, Rae CD, Steel AH, et al. Internet addiction: a brief summary of research and practice. Curr Psychiatry Rev. 2012;8:292-8. DOI:10.2174/157340012803520513
  • Koçak O, Yılmaz I and Younis MZ. Why are Turkish university students addicted to the internet? A moderated mediation model. Healthcare. 2021;9:953. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9080953
  • Lin X, Gu JY, Guo WJ, et al. The gender-sensitive social risk factors for internet addiction in college undergraduate students. Psychiatry Investig. 2021;18:636-44. DOI:10.30773/pi.2020.0277
  • Hassan T, Alam MM, Wahab A, et al. Prevalence and associated factors of internet addiction among young adults in Bangladesh. J Egypt Public Health Assoc. 2020;95:3. DOI:10.1186/s42506-019-0032-7
  • Su W, Han X, Jin C, et al. Are males more likely to be addicted to the internet than females? A meta-analysis involving 34 global jurisdictions. Comput Hum Behav. 2019;99:86-100. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.021
  • Khan MA, Shabbir F and Rajput TA. Effect of gender and physical activity on internet addiction in medical students. Pak J Med Sci. 2017;33:191-4. DOI:10.12669/pjms.331.11222
  • Mari E, Biondi S, Varchetta M, et al. Gender differences in internet addiction: A study on variables related to its possible development. Comput Hum Behav. 2023;9:100247. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100247
  • Yar A, Gündoğdu Ö Y, Tural Ü, et al. The prevalence of internet addiction in turkish adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Noro Psikiyatr Ars. 2019;56:200-4. DOI:10.29399/npa.23045
  • De Ávila GB, Dos Santos É N, Jansen K, et al. Internet addiction in students from an educational institution in Southern Brazil: prevalence and associated factors. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2020;42:302-10. DOI:10.1590/2237-6089-2019-0098
  • Li Y, Zhang X, Lu F, et al. Internet addiction among elementary and middle school students in China: a nationally representative sample study. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:111-6. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2012.0482
  • Bal PN and Turan E. Examination of Internet Use in Terms of Psychological Well-Being. Educational Research and Reviews. 2021;16:296-309. DOI: 10.5897/ERR2021.4170
  • Kumar M and Mondal A. A study on internet addiction and its relation to psychopathology and self-esteem among college students. Ind Psychiatry J. 2018;27:61-6. DOI:10.4103/ipj.ipj_61_17
  • Canan F, Yildirim O, Ustunel TY, et al. The relationship between internet addiction and body mass index in Turkish adolescents. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:40-5. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2012.0733
  • Koca SB, Paketçi A and Büyükyılmaz G. The relationship between internet usage style and internet addiction and food addiction in obese children compared to healthy children. Turk Arch Pediatr. 2023;58:205-11. DOI:10.5152/TurkArchPediatr.2023.22183
  • Tabatabaee H, Rezaianzadeh A and Jamshidi M. Mediators in the relationship between internet addiction and body mass index: A path model approach using partial least square. J Res Health Sci. 2018;18:e00423.
  • Singh LK, Suchandra KHH, Pattajoshi A, et al. Internet addiction and daytime sleepiness among professionals in India: A web-based survey. Indian J Psychiatry. 2019;61:265-9. DOI:10.4103/psychiatry.
  • Wang Y, Zhao Y, Liu L, et al. The current situation of internet addiction and its impact on sleep quality and self-injury behavior in chinese medical students. Psychiatry Investig. 2020;17:237-42. DOI:10.30773/pi.2019.0131
  • Zhang W and Xu R. Effect of exercise intervention on internet addiction and autonomic nervous function in college students. Biomed Res Int. 2022;2022:5935353. DOI:10.1155/2022/5935353
  • Zalewska A, Gałczyk M, Sobolewski M, et al. Depression as compared to level of physical activity and internet addiction among polish physiotherapy students during the covid-19 pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18. DOI:10.3390/ijerph181910072
  • Liang S, Ren Z and Yang G. Cross-sectional and prospective association between internet addiction and risk of fatigue among Chinese college students. Medicine. 2022;101. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000030034
  • Yang G, Cao J, Li Y, et al. Association between internet addiction and the risk of musculoskeletal pain in chinese college freshmen - A cross-sectional study. Front Psychol. 2019;10:1959. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01959
  • Taşvuran Horata E. Investigation of the effect of technology and internet addictions on the musculoskeletal system in university students during the post-pandemic period. Med Sci and Discov. 2022;9:650-5. DOI:10.36472/msd.v9i12.850
  • Aleebrahim F, Daneshvar S and Tarrahi MJ. The prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with mental health among high school students in Bushehr, Iran. Int J Prev Med. 2022;13:126. DOI:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_480_19
  • Jaiswal A, Manchanda S, Gautam V, et al. Burden of internet addiction, social anxiety and social phobia among University students, India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020;9:3607-12. DOI:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_360_20
  • Tian Y, Zhao Y, Lv F, et al. Associations among the big five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and internet addiction across three time measurements in 3 months during the covid-19 pandemic. Front Psychol. 2021;12:654825. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654825
  • Cao F, Su L, Liu T, et al. The relationship between impulsivity and internet addiction in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Eur Psychiatry. 2007;22:466-71. DOI:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.05.004
  • Abdon A, Mesquita R, Lks M, et al. Prevalence of smartphone addiction and associated factors in Brazilian adults. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews. 2020;7:202-11. DOI:10.30574/wjarr.2020.7.1.0254
  • Günüç S and Kayrı M. Türkiye’de internet bağımlılık profili ve internet bağımlılık ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik-güvenirlik çalışması. 2010.
  • Saglam M, Arikan H, Savci S, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Turkish version. Percept Mot Skills. 2010;111:278-84. DOI: 10.2466/06.08.PMS.111.4.278-284
  • Ulusoy M, Sahin NH and Erkmen H. Turkish version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory: psychometric properties. J Cogn Psychother. 1998;12:163.
  • Gámez-Guadix M. Depressive symptoms and problematic internet use among adolescents: analysis of the longitudinal relationships from the cognitive-behavioral model. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:714-9. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2014.0226
  • Leo K, Kewitz S, Wartberg L, et al. Depression and social anxiety predict internet use disorder symptoms in children and adolescents at 12-month follow-up: Results from a longitudinal study. Front Psychol. 2021;12:787162. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.787162
  • Diotaiuti P, Girelli L, Mancone S, et al. Impulsivity and depressive brooding in internet addiction: A study with a sample of italian adolescents during covid-19 lockdown. Front Psychiatry. 2022;13:941313. DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.941313
  • Kuss DJ and Lopez-Fernandez O. Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of clinical research. World J Psychiatry. 2016;6:143-76. DOI:10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.143
  • Kożybka M, Radlińska I, Kolwitz M, et al. Problematic internet use among polish students: prevalence, relationship to sociodemographic data and internet usage patterns. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20:2434. DOI:10.3390/ijerph20032434
  • Gavurova B, Ivankova V, Rigelsky M, et al. Internet addiction in socio-demographic, academic, and psychological profile of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Front Public Health. 2022;10:944085. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.944085
  • Peris M, de la Barrera U, Schoeps K, et al. Psychological risk factors that predict social networking and internet addiction in adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:4598. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17124598
  • Devine D, Ogletree AM, Shah P, et al. Internet addiction, cognitive, and dispositional factors among US adults. Comput Hum Behav. 2022;6:100180. DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100180
  • Önen C, Tunçdemir A, Özer A. Internet addiction of students at the vocational high school of healthcare. BEU J Sci & Technol. 2014;4:23-25. DOI: 10.17678/beujst.76811
There are 39 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Rehabilitation
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Ceyhun Türkmen 0000-0002-3125-4113

Nilay Şahan 0000-0001-5667-0247

Tuğba Arslan 0000-0001-8726-0128

Meltem Yazıcı Gülay 0000-0003-1616-8070

Early Pub Date September 16, 2023
Publication Date October 1, 2023
Submission Date April 22, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023

Cite

EndNote Türkmen C, Şahan N, Arslan T, Yazıcı Gülay M (October 1, 2023) Possible Demographic, Physical, and Psychological Characteristics Associated with Internet Addiction in Turkish People. Acıbadem Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi 14 4 716–723.