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Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine

Received: 26 June 2014     Accepted: 1 July 2014     Published: 10 July 2014
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Abstract

Despite the positive aspects of the internet have been readily praised over the last years, there has been increased interest in the addictive potential of the internet. The present study was conducted in order to investigate not only the prevalence of internet addiction among the nursing students at the Islamic University of Gaza, but also the relationship between internet addictions and psychological morbidity. At the beginning of first semester of the academic year 2013/2014, all nursing students from second, third, and fourth year students-excluding first year students-were handed the questionnaires, which included the Arabic versions of Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and demographic data. A total of 236 nursing students completed and returned the questionnaires. Female participants were 124 (52.5%) and fourth year students were 107 (45.3%). Results indicated that 30.1% of participants scored high level of internet addiction. Male nursing students were significantly higher than females in both internet addiction and psychological morbidity. No significant differences in IAT or GHQ-12 were found among nursing students due to study year. The results showed that there is significant positive correlation between internet addiction and psychological morbidity. It can be concluded that Palestinian nursing students in Gaza are highly addicted on internet and this affected their psychological morbidity. A program to reduce addiction on internet is suggested and comfortable study environment is recommended.

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13
Page(s) 99-103
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Internet Addiction, Psychological Morbidity, Nursing Students, Gaza-Palestine

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bashir Ibrahim Alhajjar. (2014). Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(4), 99-103. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13

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    ACS Style

    Bashir Ibrahim Alhajjar. Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2014, 3(4), 99-103. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13

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    AMA Style

    Bashir Ibrahim Alhajjar. Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine. Am J Appl Psychol. 2014;3(4):99-103. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13,
      author = {Bashir Ibrahim Alhajjar},
      title = {Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {99-103},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20140304.13},
      abstract = {Despite the positive aspects of the internet have been readily praised over the last years, there has been increased interest in the addictive potential of the internet. The present study was conducted in order to investigate not only the prevalence of internet addiction among the nursing students at the Islamic University of Gaza, but also the relationship between internet addictions and psychological morbidity. At the beginning of first semester of the academic year 2013/2014, all nursing students from second, third, and fourth year students-excluding first year students-were handed the questionnaires, which included the Arabic versions of Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and demographic data. A total of 236 nursing students completed and returned the questionnaires. Female participants were 124 (52.5%) and fourth year students were 107 (45.3%). Results indicated that 30.1% of participants scored high level of internet addiction. Male nursing students were significantly higher than females in both internet addiction and psychological morbidity. No significant differences in IAT or GHQ-12 were found among nursing students due to study year. The results showed that there is significant positive correlation between internet addiction and psychological morbidity. It can be concluded that Palestinian nursing students in Gaza are highly addicted on internet and this affected their psychological morbidity. A program to reduce addiction on internet is suggested and comfortable study environment is recommended.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Internet Addiction and Psychological Morbidity among Nursing Students in Gaza-Palestine
    AU  - Bashir Ibrahim Alhajjar
    Y1  - 2014/07/10
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    SP  - 99
    EP  - 103
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5672
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.13
    AB  - Despite the positive aspects of the internet have been readily praised over the last years, there has been increased interest in the addictive potential of the internet. The present study was conducted in order to investigate not only the prevalence of internet addiction among the nursing students at the Islamic University of Gaza, but also the relationship between internet addictions and psychological morbidity. At the beginning of first semester of the academic year 2013/2014, all nursing students from second, third, and fourth year students-excluding first year students-were handed the questionnaires, which included the Arabic versions of Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and demographic data. A total of 236 nursing students completed and returned the questionnaires. Female participants were 124 (52.5%) and fourth year students were 107 (45.3%). Results indicated that 30.1% of participants scored high level of internet addiction. Male nursing students were significantly higher than females in both internet addiction and psychological morbidity. No significant differences in IAT or GHQ-12 were found among nursing students due to study year. The results showed that there is significant positive correlation between internet addiction and psychological morbidity. It can be concluded that Palestinian nursing students in Gaza are highly addicted on internet and this affected their psychological morbidity. A program to reduce addiction on internet is suggested and comfortable study environment is recommended.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Nursing, the Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza Strip, Palestine

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