Prediction of internet addiction based on information literacy among students of Iran University of Medical Sciences
Keywords:
Information literacy, Internet addiction, Addictive behaviorAbstract
Background: A considerable group of internet users consists of university users; however, despite internet benefits and capabilities, internet overuse is a threat to societies especially to young people and students. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the predictive role of information literacy in internet addiction among students of Iran University of Medical Sciences during 2016. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Using stratified random sampling method, 365 students from different disciplines were selected. Measuring tools included the Information Literacy Questionnaire, the Yang Online Drug Addiction Scale and the General Health Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by Pearson product-moment correlation, independent samples t-test and multiple linear regression using SPSS version 22. Results: According to this study, 31.2% of students had internet addiction (29.9% were mildly addicted and 1.3% had severe addiction). There was a significant and inverse relationship between higher information literacy and internet addiction (R= -0.45) and (p<0.001). The predictor variable “Information literacy” explained 20% of the variation in the outcome variable “Internet addiction”. Conclusion: Students play a substantial role in promoting the cultural and scientific level of knowledge in society; the higher their information literacy, the lower the level of Internet addiction, and consequently the general health of society will improve. It seems that wise planning by authorities of Iran's universities to prevent internet addiction and to increase information literacy among students is needed.References
Wegmann E, Stodt B, Brand M. Addictive use of social networking sites can be explained by the
interaction of internet use expectancies, internet literacy, and psychopathological symptoms. J Behav
Addict. 2015; 4(3): 155-62. doi: 10.1556/2006.4.2015.021. PMID: 26551905, PMCID: PMCPMC4627676.
Alipour J, Safari Lafti S, Askari Majdabadi H, Yazdiyani A, Valinejadi A. Factors affecting hospital
information system acceptance by caregivers of educational hospitals based on technology acceptance
model (TAM): A study in Iran. IIOAB Journal. 2016: 119-23.
Greenfield DN. Psychological characteristics of compulsive internet use: a preliminary analysis.
Cyberpsychol Behav. 1999; 2(5): 403-12. doi: 10.1089/cpb.1999.2.403. PMID: 19178212.
Cao H, Sun Y, Wan Y, Hao J, Tao F. Problematic Internet use in Chinese adolescents and its relation to
psychosomatic symptoms and life satisfaction. BMC public health. 2011; 11: 802. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458- 11-802. PMID: 21995654, PMCID: PMCPMC3214169.
Tang CS, Koh YY. Online social networking addiction among college students in Singapore: Comorbidity
with behavioral addiction and affective disorder. Asian J Psychiatr. 2017; 25: 175-8. doi:
1016/j.ajp.2016.10.027. PMID: 28262144.
Ko CH, Yen JY, Chen CS, Yeh YC, Yen CF. Predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for internet
addiction in adolescents: a 2-year prospective study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009; 163(10): 937-43.
doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.159. PMID: 19805713.
Haruna H, Tshuma N, Hu X. Health Information Needs and Reliability of Sources Among Nondegree
Health Sciences Students: A Prerequisite for Designing eHealth Literacy. Ann Glob Health. 2017; 83(2):
-79. doi: 10.1016/j.aogh.2017.03.516. PMID: 28619414.
Karami M, Fatehi M, Torabi M, Langarizadeh M, Rahimi A, Safdari R. Enhance hospital performance
from intellectual capital to business intelligence. Radiol Manage. 2013; 35(6): 30-5. PMID: 24475528.
Leung L, Lee PS. Impact of internet literacy, internet addiction symptoms, and internet activities on
academic performance. Social Science Computer Review. 2012; 30(4): 403-18. doi:
1177/0894439311435217.
Floros G, Siomos K, Stogiannidou A, Giouzepas I, Garyfallos G. The relationship between personality,
defense styles, internet addiction disorder, and psychopathology in college students. Cyberpsychol Behav
Soc Netw. 2014; 17(10): 672-6. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0182. PMID: 25225916.
Sadoughi F, Valinejadi A, Shirazi MS, Khademi R. Social Network Analysis of Iranian Researchers on
Medical Parasitology: A 41 Year Co-Authorship Survey. Iran J Parasitol. 2016; 11(2): 204-12. PMID:
, PMCID: PMCPMC5236097.
Rastegar DA, Bertram A, Sisson SD. Use of an internet-based curriculum to teach internal medicine
residents about addiction. J Addict Med. 2010; 4(4): 233-5. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0b013e3181cc9fc7. PMID:
Fatehi F, Monajemi A, Sadeghi A, Mojtahedzadeh R, Mirzazadeh A. Quality of Life in Medical Students
With Internet Addiction. Acta Med Iran. 2016; 54(10): 662-6. PMID: 27888595.
Naseri L, Mohamadi J, Sayehmiri K, Azizpoor Y. Perceived Social Support, Self-Esteem, and Internet
Addiction Among Students of Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2015; 9(3):
e421. doi: 10.17795/ijpbs-421. PMID: 26576175, PMCID: PMCPMC4644622.
Schou Andreassen C, Billieux J, Griffiths MD, Kuss DJ, Demetrovics Z, Mazzoni E, et al. The relationship
between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large- scale cross-sectional study. Psychol Addict Behav. 2016; 30(2): 252-62. doi: 10.1037/adb0000160. PMID:
Cao F, Su L. Internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: prevalence and psychological features. Child
Care Health Dev. 2007; 33(3): 275-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00715.x. PMID: 17439441.
Leung L. Predicting Internet risks: a longitudinal panel study of gratifications-sought, Internet addiction
symptoms, and social media use among children and adolescents. Health Psychol Behav Med. 2014; 2(1):
-39. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2014.902316. PMID: 25750792, PMCID: PMCPMC4346000.
Park S, Lee Y, Jun JY. Differences in the relationship between traumatic experiences, self-esteem, negative
cognition, and internet addiction symptoms among North Korean adolescent defectors and South Korean
adolescents: A preliminary study. Psychiatry Res. 2017; 257: 381-5. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.078.
PMID: 28818806, PMCID: PMC4804263.
Kuss DJ, Lopez-Fernandez O. Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of
clinical research. World J Psychiatry. 2016; 6(1): 143-76. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.143. PMID: 27014605,
PMCID: PMCPMC4804263.
Kim D, Lee D, Lee J, Namkoong K, Jung YC. Association between childhood and adult attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder symptoms in Korean young adults with Internet addiction. J Behav Addict. 2017;
(3): 345-53. doi: 10.1556/2006.6.2017.044. PMID: 28786707, PMCID: PMC5700719.
Mohammadbeigi A, Valizadeh F, Mirshojaee SR, Ahmadli R, Mokhtari M, Ghaderi E, et al. Self-rated
Health and Internet Addiction in Iranian Medical Sciences Students; Prevalence, Risk Factors and
Complications. Int J Biomed Sci. 2016; 12(2): 65-70. PMID: 27493592, PMCID: PMCPMC4947091.
Boh Podgornik B, Dolničar D, Šorgo A, Bartol T. Development, testing, and validation of an information
literacy test (ILT) for higher education. J Assoc Inf Sci Tech. 2016; 67: 2420-36. doi: 10.1002/asi.23586.
Cameron L, Wise SL, Lottridge SM. The development and validation of the information literacy test. Coll
Res Lib. 2007; 68: 229-37. doi: 10.5860/crl.68.3.229.
Momeni M, Valizadeh S, Ghorbani R. A survey on the information literacy of final-year students studying
at Semnan University of Medical Sciences (2012). Koomesh. 2014; 15(4): 502-10.
Keshavarz H, Givi E, Reza M, Vafaeian A, Khademian M. Information Literacy Self-efficacy Dimensions
of Post Graduate Students: Validating a Persian Version Scale. Libri. 2017; 67(1): 75-86. doi:
1515/libri-2016-0092.
Karimi Z, Ashrafi-rizi H, Papi A, Shahrzadi L, Hassanzadeh A. Effect of information literacy training
course on information literacy skills of undergraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
based on ACRL standards. J Educ Health Promot. 2015; 4: 76. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.171789. PMID:
, PMCID: PMC4944610.
Pawlikowski M, Altstötter-Gleich C, Brand M. Validation and psychometric properties of a short version of
Young’s Internet Addiction Test. Comput Hum Behav. 2013; 29: 1212-23. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.10.014.
Ranjbar H, Thatcher A, Greyling M, Arab M, Nasri N. Validation of the Persian Version of the Problematic
Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ). Iran J Psychiatry. 2014; 9(4): 248-52. PMID: 25792994, PMCID:
PMCPMC4361829.
Nastizai N. The relationship between general health and internet addiction. Zahedan J Res Med Sci. 2009;
(1): 21-7.
Nazifi M, Mokarami H, Akbaritabar A, Faraji Kujerdi M, Tabrizi R, Rahi A. Reliability, validity and factor
structure of the persian translation of general health questionnire (ghq-28) in hospitals of kerman university
of medical sciences. J Fasa Univ Med Sci. 2014; 3: 336-42.
Khosravi A, Mousavi SA, Chaman R, Kish MS, Ashrafi E, Khalili M, et al. Reliability and validity of the
Persian version of the World Health Organization-five well-being index. IJHS. 2015; 1: 9-17.
Al-Gamal E, Alzayyat A, Ahmad MM. Prevalence of Internet Addiction Internet Addiction and Its
Association With Psychological Distress and Coping Strategies Among University Students in Jordan.
Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2016; 52(1): 49-61. doi: 10.1111/ppc.12102. PMID: 25639746.
Douglas AC, Mills JE, Niang M, Stepchenkova S, Byun S, Ruffini C, et al. Internet addiction: Meta- synthesis of qualitative research for the decade 1996–2006. Comput Hum Behav. 2008; 24: 3027-44. doi:
1016/j.chb.2008.05.009.
Ko CH, Yen JY, Chen CS, Chen CC, Yen CF. Psychiatric comorbidity of internet addiction in college
students: an interview study. CNS Spectr. 2008; 13(2): 147-53. doi: 10.1017/S1092852900016308. PMID:
Niemz K, Griffiths M, Banyard P. Prevalence of pathological internet use among university students and
correlations with self-esteem, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and disinhibition. Cyberpsychol
Behav. 2005; 8(6): 562-70. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.562. PMID: 16332167.
Chun J, Shim H, Kim S. A Meta-Analysis of Treatment Interventions for Internet Addiction Among
Korean Adolescents. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2017; 20(4): 225-31. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2016.0188.
PMID: 28263660.
Lemos IL, Cardoso A, Sougey EB. Validity and reliability assessment of the Brazilian version of the game
addiction scale (GAS). Compr Psychiatry. 2016; 67: 19-25. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.01.014. PMID:
Byun S, Ruffini C, Mills JE, Douglas AC, Niang M, Stepchenkova S, et al. Internet addiction:
metasynthesis of 1996-2006 quantitative research. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009; 12(2): 203-7. doi:
1089/cpb.2008.0102. PMID: 19072075.
Ko CH, Hsiao S, Liu GC, Yen JY, Yang MJ, Yen CF. The characteristics of decision making, potential to
take risks, and personality of college students with Internet addiction internet addiction. Psychiatry Res.
; 175(1-2): 121-5. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2008.10.004. PMID: 19962767.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 KNOWLEDGE KINGDOM PUBLISHING
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.