Problematic internet use among young and adult population in Bangladesh: correlates with lifestyle and online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Islam, MS, Sujan, MSH, Tasnim, R, Ferdous, MZ, Masud, JHB, Kundu, S, Mosaddek, ASM, Choudhuri, MSK, Kircaburun, K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8678-9078 and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2020. Problematic internet use among young and adult population in Bangladesh: correlates with lifestyle and online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 12: 100311.

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Abstract

Background: Although internet use can boost individuals’ quality of life in various aspects, activities on the internet (e.g., gambling, video gaming, social media use, pornography use, etc.) can be used as coping strategy to deal with psychological stressors and mood states (e.g., fear, anxiety, depression) particularly during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: The present study assessed problematic internet use (PIU) among Bangladeshi youth and adults in Bangladesh and examined its correlation with lifestyle and online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was utilized between May and June 2020 comprising 13,525 Bangladeshi individuals (61.3% male; age range 18–50 years; mean age 23.7 years) recruited from various online platforms. The self-report survey included questions concerning socio-demographics, lifestyle, and online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as psychometric scales such as the nine-item Internet Disorder Scale-Short Form (IDS9-SF).

Results: Utilizing hierarchical regression analysis, problematic internet use was significantly and positively associated with those who were younger, having a higher level of education, living with a nuclear family, engaging in less physical exercise, avoiding household chores, playing online videogames, social media use, and engaging in recreational online activities.

Conclusions: Excessive internet use appears to have been commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic period and young adults were most vulnerable to problematic internet use.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Addictive Behaviors Reports
Creators:	Islam, M.S., Sujan, M.S.H., Tasnim, R., Ferdous, M.Z., Masud, J.H.B., Kundu, S., Mosaddek, A.S.M., Choudhuri, M.S.K., Kircaburun, K. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	December 2020
Volume:	12
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100311 DOI S2352853220301267 Publisher Item Identifier 1390443 Other
Rights:	© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	25 Nov 2020 09:42
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2021 11:07
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/41687

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