Psychological Distress and Internet Addiction among Medical Students from a Malaysian Public University: A Comparison between Gender
- Author:
Ching Siew Mooi
1
Author Information
1. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
- Collective Name:Ching Siew Mooi; Hanifatiyah Ali; Cheong Ai Theng; Hani Syahida Salim
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Internet addiction;
Gender;
Medical students;
Malaysia
- MeSH:
Internet addiction
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences
2019;15(2):3-8
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
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 internet 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 DASS21 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
- Full text:11.2019my0398.pdf
