The association between smartphone use and sleep quality, psychological distress, and loneliness among health care students and workers in Saudi Arabia

The association between internet addiction and sleep quality among medical students in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Sleep is one of the fundamental human needs, essential for maintaining a high quality of life and mental and physical well-being across all age groups. Poor sleep quality often stems from negative lifestyle habits, including excessive internet usage. Therefore, it is important to determine the prevalence of internet gaming disorder among youth in Saudi Arabia and to examine the relationship between internet addiction levels and sleep quality.

METHODS

Data were collected from 338 medical students in the southern region of Saudi Arabia (mean age = 21.2 years, standard deviation = 3.29 years). Participants completed an online questionnaire comprising the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data analysis employed iterations, chi-square tests, Pearson correlation coefficients, and ANOVA.

RESULTS

The results revealed that 21% of the participants exhibited severe internet addiction, while 31% displayed moderate internet addiction. Furthermore, the findings indicated a positive correlation between sleep quality and the severity of internet addiction. Sleep quality symptoms explained 75% of the variance in Internet addiction scores, even after controlling for demographic variables. Additional bivariate analyses revealed that individuals who spent six or more hours online daily were more likely to experience symptoms of poor sleep quality and exhibit a higher severity of internet addiction. Additionally, Men were more susceptible to developing internet addiction compared to women. Moreover, students with internet addiction tended to have lower academic achievements.

CONCLUSION

These findings, while exploratory, offer valuable insights into potential interventions, strategies, and programs for mitigating internet addiction and enhancing sleep quality among medical college students.

Prevalence of smartphone addiction and its relation with psychological distress and internet gaming disorder among medical college students

Background

The incidence of smartphone addiction has been widely studied, but the research on the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological distress and internet gaming disorder is limited. This study investigated the characteristics and prevalence of smartphone addiction and its relation with psychological distress and internet gaming disorder. Furthermore, it provides the scientific basis for intervention measures in schools, families, and society.

Methods

A random cluster sampling method was applied to investigate 656 medical students from grades 1 to 4 at Wannan Medical College in Anhui province, People's Republic of China. The questionnaire consisted of general information, a smartphone addiction scale, an Internet gaming disorder scale, and a Kessler 6-item psychological distress test. The obtained results were first summarized using descriptive statistics. The Chi-square test was used to compare the status of smartphone addiction. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between smartphone addiction and various variables.

Results

Our results showed that the prevalence of smartphone addiction in medical students was 49.5% (325/656). Psychological distress (p < 0.001), internet gaming disorder (p < 0.001), and childhood trauma (p = 0.001) were highly correlated with smartphone addiction in medical students. Psychological distress, and internet gaming disorder were positively associated with smartphone addiction (p < 0.000).

Conclusion

The prevalence of smartphone addiction is high among medical students in Chinese. Smartphone addiction is highly related to related to internet gaming disorder and psychological distress.

Social Support and Daytime Sleepiness Among Chinese Medical Students: Mediating Roles of Loneliness and Problematic Smartphone Use

Background

Sleep problems have become a serious threat to public health worldwide. Daytime sleepiness is an important indicator of many sleep problems, which have a significant impact on academic performance, physical and mental health, and wellbeing among medical students. We aimed to explore the factors associated with daytime sleepiness among medical students.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 466 medical students recruited via convenience sampling. Self-rated psychometric scales, including the Social Support Rate Scale, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the Chinese version of the UCLA loneliness scale, and the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), were utilized to evaluate social support, daytime sleepiness, loneliness, and problematic smartphone use. A sequential mediation model was constructed with daytime sleepiness as the dependent variable, social support as the independent variable, and loneliness and problematic smartphone use as mediating variables. Age, gender, and grade were taken as covariates.

Results

Social support among medical students was negatively associated with loneliness, problematic smartphone use, and daytime sleepiness (p < 0.01). A sequential mediation analysis showed that loneliness (the first mediator) and problematic smartphone use (the second mediator) sequentially mediated the path from social support to daytime sleepiness among medical students (β = -0.008; 95% CI = -0.016, -0.002). Moreover, there were also significant mediating roles observed in the relationship between social support and daytime sleepiness via loneliness only (β = -0.037; 95% CI = -0.062, -0.015) and problematic smartphone use only (β = -0.022; 95% CI = -0.041, -0.008).

Conclusion

Social support, loneliness, and problematic smartphone use among medical students influenced their daytime sleepiness. Interventions targeting medical student loneliness and problematic smartphone use behaviors might attenuate the effects from low levels of social support and further improve daytime sleepiness.

Nomophobia (No Mobile Phone Phobia) and Psychological Health Issues among Young Adult Students

BACKGROUND

Smart phone use has become a part of people's everyday life. However, when the lack of using the smart phone to establish and maintain electronic communication is related to psychological distress, such a behavior may be considered a modern-age phobia, or nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia). The aims of the present study were to investigate among a sample of young adults the associations between scores for nomophobia and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

METHODS

A total of 537 students (mean age: 25.52 years; 42.3% females) participated in the study. They completed a booklet of self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information and symptoms of nomophobia, depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

RESULTS

Higher scores for nomophobia were associated with higher scores for depression, anxiety, and stress, but not with scores for insomnia and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The regression model confirmed that symptoms of anxiety predicted nomophobia.

CONCLUSIONS

The present results support the assumption that nomophobia appears to be a mood disturbance related to stronger associations with symptoms of anxiety and, to a lesser extent, with symptoms of depression and stress. By contrast, nomophobia appeared to be unrelated to insomnia and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Prevalence of Nomophobia and Its Association with Academic Performance Among Physiotherapy Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross- Sectional Survey

Background

Nomophobia is common among students in many healthcare disciplines, and its association with academic performance has been explore before. However, there is no available data on its prevalence and association with academic performance among undergraduate physiotherapy (PT) students in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

Between 22 December 2022 and 30 January 2023, a cross-sectional survey was conducted by dissemination using an online platform (Survey Monkey).

Results

In total, 806 PT students, with males accounting for 494 (61%), responded to the survey. The prevalence of nomophobia among PT students was 98.4% (793). The mean (±SD) of the total NMP-Q items scores was 49 (±17), indicating a mild level of nomophobia. Female PT students had significantly higher nomophobia scores than the males (47 (39-65); 44 (38-52); (p < 0.001)). Non-smokers had significant higher nomophobia scores than smokers (46 (38-61); 44 (38-49); (p = 0.004)). Regarding grade point averages (GPA), the students with a GPA of less than 3.49 had the highest nomophobia score (51 (43-74); p <0.001)). Concerning the stage of their studies, bridging students had the highest nomophobia score (51 (34-76); p = 0.023)). Regarding academic warnings, those who reported no academic warnings had the highest nomophobia score (46 (42-50); p = 0.023)). Finally, regarding study hours, the students who spent ≥ five hours studying per week had the highest nomophobia score (54 (42-68); p < 0.001)).

Conclusion

Nomophobia is common among PT students, with the majority experiencing a mild level. Being female, non-smoker, and having a higher academic performance were risk factors associated with higher nomophobia levels.