The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Depression Among Healthcare Undergraduate Students

Though the internet is a useful technology, its overuse will make undergraduate students subject to negative outcomes such as social isolation and poor university performance.

To assess the relationship between internet addiction (IA) and depression among undergraduate healthcare students (UHS).

Utilizing a cross-sectional design, a sample of 299 UHS was conveniently selected from healthcare schools in Jordan university of science and technology (JUST). Self-administered questionnaires, including the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Center for Epidemiological Self-Depression Scale (CES-D) with a cut-off score of ≥ 16 for depressive symptoms, were used to assess IAT and depression, respectively.

A moderate positive relationship (r = 0.5, p < 0.01; 95% CI [0.41, 0.58]) was found between depression and IA. The results also revealed a significant difference between the unattended lecture and IA among UHS. In addition, IA was significantly correlated with the number of days miss-class over the last 1 month. Approximately 54.5% of the websites overused were social media such as Facebook. The prevalence of IA was 8.4%, while depression was 78%, with a significant relationship connecting depression and IA levels (X² = 51.79, p < 0.001).

In conclusion, there is a significant relationship connecting depression and IA among UHS. IA is prevalent in this population, and students exhibiting high levels of depressive symptoms are more likely to experience IA. These findings align with broader concerns about the negative psychological impact of IA. Further research is needed to explore causal relationships and to develop targeted interventions for at-risk students.