Abstract

Research Article

Internet Addiction and its Relationship with Attachment Styles Among Tunisian Medical Students

Rim Masmoudi*, Ahmed Mhalla, Amjed Ben Haouala, Wael Majdoub, Jawaher Masmoudi, Badii Amamou and Lotfi Gaha

Published: 13 July, 2023 | Volume 7 - Issue 1 | Pages: 012-018

Internet addiction is a growing addictive behavior and a major public health problem worldwide. Several psychological factors can contribute to the problematic use of the Internet. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Internet Addiction (IA) in a sample of university students and to examine the relationship between IA, self-esteem, and attachment styles.
The present study was a cross-sectional study, involving 135 students from the Faculty of Medicine of Monastir. The participants completed a questionnaire, which contained the socio-demographic data, the reasons for Internet use, the Young Cyberaddiction scale to seek IA, the Relationships-style-questionnaire-RSQ to assess attachment style, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES).
The mean age of the students was 21.5 ± 1.9 years old. They were 112 (83%) females. The prevalence of Internet addiction was 23.7%. The average connection time was 3.5 ± 1.8 hours/day. The most frequent online activities were chat (online discussion, forums ...) in 94.8% of cases followed by download activities (78.5%), scientific research (75.6%), online games (23.7%), and online shopping (13.3%). IA was associated with school failure, alcohol use, online gaming, and low self-esteem. The majority of the participants (84.4%) in this study reported an insecure attachment style. Logistic regression analysis showed a strong association between IA and fearful attachment style.
IA was frequent among students. Fearful attachment style was found to be a risk factor for IA. This study highlights the impact of relationships between child and their caregivers on the development of addiction.

Read Full Article HTML DOI: 10.29328/journal.jatr.1001027 Cite this Article Read Full Article PDF

Keywords:

Internet addiction; Attachment style; Self-esteem; Students

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