The Relationship Between Internet Addiction, Sleep Quality, and Cyberchondria in Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional...

A large proportion of nursing students experience challenges related to internet addiction and cyberchondria, the intensification of health anxiety through excessive online health-related searching. Poor sleep quality may exacerbate the relationship between cyberchondria severity and internet addiction.

This study aimed to examine the associations between internet addiction, sleep quality, and cyberchondria severity in nursing students.

A web-based, cross-sectional, and correlational research design was used. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Cyberchondria Severity Scale, Internet Addiction Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Analyses were conducted using jamovi 2.3.28 software. Harman's single-factor test, descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and mediation analyses were applied.

Sleep quality was good in 41.7% of the 360 participants and poor in 58.3%. The level of internet addiction and the severity of cyberchondria varied according to good and poor sleep quality (Mann-Whitney U = -2.78, P = 0.06 and t = -3.10, P = 0.002, respectively). Mediation analysis showed that sleep disturbance mediated the statistical association between internet addiction and cyberchondria severity (β = 0.02, P = 0.046).

Our findings suggest that sleep disturbance may contribute to both increased cyberchondria severity and heightened internet addiction among nursing students, underscoring the importance of addressing sleep quality in this population.