Association of Internet Addiction and Gaming Disorder with Sleep Quality Among University Students: A Cross-sectional...

Problematic Internet use and online gaming are increasingly reported among university students and may adversely affect sleep quality.

The aim of the study was to examine the association of internet addiction and gaming disorder with sleep quality among university students.

This institution-based cross-sectional study included 217 undergraduate students from a university in Western Uttar Pradesh. Internet addiction was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test, gaming disorder risk using the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, and sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Poor sleep quality was defined as PSQI >5. Associations were analyzed using Spearman's correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square/Fisher's exact test, and binary logistic regression.

At least mild internet addiction was present in 137 (63.1%) students, and moderate-to-high gaming-related risk was present in 114 (52.5%). Poor sleep quality was observed in 156 (71.9%) students. Internet addiction score showed a significant positive correlation with PSQI total score (rho = 0.345, P < 0.001) and a significant negative correlation with sleep duration (rho = -0.284, P < 0.001). Gaming disorder score was significantly associated with shorter sleep duration (rho = -0.176, P = 0.0097) but not with PSQI total score (rho = 0.034, P = 0.620). In adjusted logistic regression, internet addiction remained independently associated with poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.027, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.001-1.054, P = 0.043), while gaming disorder did not (aOR: 0.974, 95% CI: 0.907-1.046, P = 0.471).

Poor sleep quality was common among university students. Internet addiction, but not gaming disorder, was independently associated with poor sleep quality after adjustment.