Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender
Introduction: Widespread use of the internet is a relatively recent phenomenon that is affecting different cultures worldwide in both positive and negative ways. This study aimed to determine the gender differences in the inter-net addiction among medical students in public university. Methods: 426...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia
2019
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/69547/1/2019060311235201_MJMHS_June_2019.pdf |
| _version_ | 1825933742591442944 |
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| author | Ching, Siew Mooi Ali, Hanifatiyah Cheong, Ai Theng Salim, Hani Syahida |
| author_facet | Ching, Siew Mooi Ali, Hanifatiyah Cheong, Ai Theng Salim, Hani Syahida |
| author_sort | Ching, Siew Mooi |
| collection | UPM |
| description | Introduction: Widespread use of the internet is a relatively recent phenomenon that is affecting different cultures worldwide in both positive and negative ways. This study aimed to determine the gender differences in the inter-net addiction among medical students in public university. Methods: 426 medical students from year one to four were invited to participate in the study. For data collection, we used a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic and internet usage questions, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21). Results: There were a total of 426 (270 female and 156 male) medical students included in this study. IA was high in both male and female students. There was a higher proportion of male students (44.9%) found to be addicted compared to female students (32.2%). There were positive correlations between the DASS-21 and IAT scores for both male and female students. For female students, longer hours spent online daily (p-value = 0.02), as well as high anxiety (p-value < 0.001) and depression scores (p-value = 0.037) were found to be most strongly associated with IA. Among male students, factors associated with IA were the availability of internet access at home (p-value=0.02) and high anxiety scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: IA was high in both male and female medical students, with higher anxiety raising the risk in both groups. In female students, a higher depression score was also found to be associated with IA. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T10:02:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm.eprints-69547 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T10:02:01Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | upm.eprints-695472019-07-04T04:49:05Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/69547/ Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender Ching, Siew Mooi Ali, Hanifatiyah Cheong, Ai Theng Salim, Hani Syahida Introduction: Widespread use of the internet is a relatively recent phenomenon that is affecting different cultures worldwide in both positive and negative ways. This study aimed to determine the gender differences in the inter-net addiction among medical students in public university. Methods: 426 medical students from year one to four were invited to participate in the study. For data collection, we used a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic and internet usage questions, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21). Results: There were a total of 426 (270 female and 156 male) medical students included in this study. IA was high in both male and female students. There was a higher proportion of male students (44.9%) found to be addicted compared to female students (32.2%). There were positive correlations between the DASS-21 and IAT scores for both male and female students. For female students, longer hours spent online daily (p-value = 0.02), as well as high anxiety (p-value < 0.001) and depression scores (p-value = 0.037) were found to be most strongly associated with IA. Among male students, factors associated with IA were the availability of internet access at home (p-value=0.02) and high anxiety scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: IA was high in both male and female medical students, with higher anxiety raising the risk in both groups. In female students, a higher depression score was also found to be associated with IA. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia 2019 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/69547/1/2019060311235201_MJMHS_June_2019.pdf Ching, Siew Mooi and Ali, Hanifatiyah and Cheong, Ai Theng and Salim, Hani Syahida (2019) Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 15 (2). pp. 3-8. ISSN 1675-8544; ESSN: 2636-9346 https://medic.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/2019060311235201_MJMHS_June_2019.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Ching, Siew Mooi Ali, Hanifatiyah Cheong, Ai Theng Salim, Hani Syahida Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title | Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title_full | Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title_fullStr | Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title_short | Psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a Malaysian public university: a comparison between gender |
| title_sort | psychological distress and internet addiction among medical students from a malaysian public university a comparison between gender |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/69547/1/2019060311235201_MJMHS_June_2019.pdf |
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