ArticleAddictive behaviors reports2021
Internet use during COVID-19 lockdown among young people in low- and middle-income countries: Role of psychological wellbeing.
Article in Addictive behaviors reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Problematic Internet Use in Adolescents Is Driven by Internal Distress Rather Than Family or Socioeconomic Contexts: Evidence from South Tyrol, Italy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Connecting self-esteem to problematic AI chatbot use: the multiple mediating roles of positive and negative psychological states.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Smartphone Addiction among Adolescents in Southern Italy and Correlation with Other Risky Behaviors.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2024Observational
- A retrospective study of life skills promotes healthy Internet use among adolescents.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Article
- Risk Perception of COVID-19, Religiosity, and Subjective Well-Being in Emerging Adults: The Mediating Role of Meaning-Making and Perceived Stress.Journal of psychology and theology · 2023Article
- Can mask mandates boost nature-based tourism? The role of escapism and travel anxiety.PloS one · 2023Article
- Factors affecting academic performance of college students in China during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Nursing Students' Computer Anxiety and Attitudes Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Problematic internet use and depressive symptoms among the school-going adolescents in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study findings.Health science reports · 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
- How are the youth? A brief-longitudinal study on symptoms, alexithymia and expressive suppression among Italian adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic.International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · 2022Article
- Adolescent mobile phone addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic predicts subsequent suicide risk: a two-wave longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Internet-Related Instruments (Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, and Nomophobia Questionnaire) and Their Associations with Distress among Malaysian University Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Social support among persons with depressive disorders during COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Article
- Review
- Smartphone addiction risk, technology-related behaviors and attitudes, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- The relationship between internet use preference and loneliness among college students during COVID-19: The chain mediating effect of online social support and self-esteem.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Article
- The Six-Item Version of the Internet Addiction Test: Its Development, Psychometric Properties, and Measurement Invariance among Women with Eating Disorders and Healthy School and University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Relationship Between Big Five Personality and Pathological Internet Use: Mediating Effects of Loneliness and Depression.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Problematic internet use in adolescents has been shown to significantly increase over the past few years, with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns reinforcing this phenomena globally. We sought to explore whether problematic internet use in specific countries was related to emotional well-being and importantly whether this is predicted by psychological distress. There is a growing number of studies showing that problematic internet use is increasingly prevalent in countries with emerging economies, however we have yet to find out to what extent other factors are influencing this behaviour in adolescents and young people. This study invited young people from countries such India, Mexico, Philippines and Turkey to complete a set of self-reports on their daily internet habits, social media use, alongside questions on psychological distress, self-esteem, loneliness and escapism. A total of 1182 young people aged between 16 and 25 years old completed these questionnaires online. The results showed that there were significant difference in problematic internet use scores among adolescents in the Philippines and Turkey. More specifically, social media use was significantly higher amongst young people from the Philippines whereas gaming addiction was significantly high in the Turkish sample. These findings also revealed that psychological distress, loneliness, and low self-esteem consistently predicted problematic internet use. Taken together these results emphasise that there are several factors underlying growing figures of problematic internet use in young people, these factors include emotional distress, need for escapism, loneliness, and social media use, however, going forward more nuanced cultural differences should also be considered.
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