Evaluation of Internet Addiction and Relational Variables Among Nursing Students in Turkey During the COVID-19 Pandemic

It is known that individuals use the internet more to escape from the psychological problems they encounter in daily life during the pandemic. Besides, it is also known that individuals with personality traits such as neuroticism and extraversion might be prone to internet addiction due to poor communication skills. It is important to determine the relationship between the internet usage characteristics and the mental state of nursing students so that students can provide better quality health services in their education and professional processes. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between internet addiction and personality traits, stress, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among nursing students during the pandemic. This study includes 528 nursing students. The Young's Internet Addiction Test (YIAT), the Vancouver Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used for data collection between August and October 2021. It was found that there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between the students' YIAT mean scores and the EPI neuroticism sub-dimension, VOCI all sub-dimensions, and PSS mean scores (p < .05). In addition, the mean scores of the PSS and EPI were predictors of the YIAT total score (R = .550, R2 = .233, p < .05). Considering these results, it is necessary to prevent the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychosocial health of individuals. Psychological counseling can be offered to provide protective factors during the pandemic period.

Fear of COVID 19 and social effects in liver transplant patients

Background

This study was descriptively conducted to evaluate the fear of COVID 19 and its social effects on patients who had liver transplant.

Methods

The study was conducted between September 2020 and April 2021 in a liver transplant institute affiliated with a university hospital. The sample of the study was 135 patients. Personal Information Form, Fear of Covid 19 Scale, and Questionnaire of Social Impact of COVID 19 Pandemic were used to collect data.

Results

It was determined that the Fear of Covid 19 Scale mean score of the patients was 21.25 ± 6.99. As the fear of COVID 19 increases in patients who had liver transplant, it was determined that their desire to be in crowded environments, to prefer public transportation, to go to the doctor for examination and their focusing on various objectives were decreasing. Also, fear of COVID 19 increased the difficulty in sleep, storage of food and cleaning materials, washing hands frequently, using masks and gloves when going out, health concerns, doubts about disease symptoms, orientation towards healthy eating, worries about the future and questioning the meaning of life.

Conclusion

The results show that it is important for transplant centers to be able to provide guidance and psychological counseling services to liver transplant patients, who are significantly affected by COVID 19, through telemedicine or various technological opportunities.