Internet use, loneliness, and mental health in Greek students

Problematic internet use among university students is a rising phenomenon with repercussions worldwide. We aimed to determine the association between time spent online, loneliness, and mental health.

We conducted an online cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires on demographics, frequency of internet use as assessed by the Internet Addiction Inventory (IAT), depressive symptoms as reported by answering the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), loneliness as depicted by the UCLA Loneliness scale, and general psychopathology on the self-reported General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) scale. We performed statistical analysis using the IBM SPSS for Windows, Version 25.0.

The mean age (n =294, 62.9 % female) was 23.19 ± 6.454 years. One-third (33.3 %) and 8.2 % were mildly and moderately addicted to the Internet, respectively. There was no participant with severe dependence. Nearly one-quarter (24.5 %) of participants reported mild, 10.6 % moderate, and 3.3 % severe depression and 44.8 % reported moderate and 11.9 % a moderately high degree of loneliness. Four in ten (41.8 %) of participants self-reported mental health problems. Mean IAT, BDI, UCLA Loneliness, and GHQ-28 score differences were statistically significant between IAT categories across all questionnaires. Correlations between the scales were statistically significant, and a binary logistic regression model revealed that the level of self-reported depressive symptoms, loneliness, and general psychopathology scores could predict internet use.

In our student sample, mental health problems were present in approximately 40 % of participants. They were significantly correlated with problematic internet use, thus complicating the development of essential communication skills in young adults. The higher the internet use, the greater the loneliness felt. Future studies should be more extensive, focusing on the relation of internet use with the type of use, family history of psychopathology, use of substances, and impulsivity. HIPPOKRATIA 2023, 27 (2):31-36.