ArticlePloS one2020
Online activities as risk factors for Problematic internet use among students in Bahir Dar University, North West Ethiopia: A hierarchical regression model.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of internet addiction and associated factors among university students in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Pooled it
- Determinants of academic achievement among higher education student found in low resource setting, A systematic review.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Internet Addiction and Its Associated Factors Among African High School and University Students: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Cyberbullying, its associated factors, and coping mechanisms among female health science students in Hawassa City, Sidama, Ethiopia, 2025.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Problematic Internet use among resident physicians at St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Social media use, effects, and parental mediation among school adolescents in a developing country.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Relationship between academic procrastination and internet addiction in Peruvian university students: the mediating role of academic self-efficacy.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Validation of the Thai Assessment of Criteria for Specific Internet-use Disorders (ACSID-11) among young adults.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Internet addiction and associated factors among undergraduate students of Jimma University; Jimma, South West Ethiopia, institutional based cross-sectional study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Problematic use of the Internet in low- and middle-income countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2022Article
- Personality Traits of Croatian University Students with Internet Addiction.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundProblematic internet use (PIU) among youth has become a public health concern. Previous studies identified socio-demographic background risk factors for PIU. The effects of online activities on youth PIU behavior are not well investigated.
methodsThis cross-sectional study assessed the roles of online activities for PIU behavior of undergraduate students in Bahir Dar University, North West Ethiopia. Data were collected from 812 randomly selected regular program students recruited from 10 departments. Respondents completed a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used for analyses.
resultsThe results indicated that social networking (75.5%), entertainment (73.6%), academic works (70.9%), and online gaming (21.6%) are the important online activities students are engaging in the internet. About 33% and 1.8% of students showed symptoms of mild and severe PIU, respectively. Taking online activities into account improved the model explaining PIU behavior of students. Online activities explained 46% of the variance in PIU. Using the internet for social networking (AOR = 7.078; 95% CI: 3.913-12.804) and online gaming (AOR = 2.175; 95% CI: 1.419-3.335) were risk factors for PIU.
conclusionsThe findings revealed that more than a third of the respondents showed symptoms of PIU. Online activities improved the model explaining PIU behavior of students. Thus, university authorities need to be aware of the prevalence of PIU and introduce regulatory mechanisms to limit the usage of potentially addictive online activities and promoting responsible use of the internet.
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