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Cited by 54Impact of Technology on AdolescentsHealthcare professionals’ stress and burnoutCOVID-19 and Mental Health

Problematic use of the internet, smartphones, and social media among medical students and relationship with depression: An exploratory study

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Sserunkuuma, Jonathan, Kaggwa, Mark Mohan, Muwanguzi, Moses, Najjuka, Sarah Maria, Murungi, Nathan, Kajjimu, Jonathan, Mulungi, Jonathan, Kihumuro, Raymond Bernard +3 more·2023·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0286424PMC PMC10218731
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Abstract

Background: Students in sub-Saharan African countries experienced online classes for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some individuals, greater online engagement can lead to online dependency, which can be associated with depression. The present study explored the association between problematic use of the internet, social media, and smartphones with depression symptoms among Ugandan medical students. Methods: A pilot study was conducted among 269 medical students at a Ugandan public university. Using a survey, data were collected regarding socio-demographic factors, lifestyle, online use behaviors, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, and internet addiction. Hierarchical linear regression models were performed to explore the associations of different forms of online addiction with depression symptom severity. Results: The findings indicated that 16.73% of the medical students had moderate to severe depression symptoms. The prevalence of being at risk of (i) smartphone addiction was 45.72%, (ii) social media addiction was 74.34%, and (iii) internet addiction use was 8.55%. Online use behaviors (e.g., average hours spent online, types of social media platforms used, the purpose for internet use) and online-related addictions (to smartphones, social media, and the internet) predicted approximately 8% and 10% of the severity of depression symptoms, respectively. However, over the past two weeks, life stressors had the highest predictability for depression (35.9%). The final model predicted a total of 51.9% variance for depression symptoms. In the final model, romantic relationship problems (ß = 2.30, S.E = 0.58; p<0.01) and academic performance problems (ß = 1.76, S.E = 0.60; p<0.01) over the past two weeks; and increased internet addiction severity (ß = 0.05, S.E = 0.02; p<0.01) was associated with significantly increased depression symptom severity, whereas Twitter use was associated with reduced depression symptom severity (ß = 1.88, S.E = 0.57; p<0.05). Conclusion: Despite life stressors being the largest predictor of depression symptom score severity, problematic online use also contributed significantly. Therefore, it is recommended that medical students’ mental health care services consider digital wellbeing and its relationship with problematic online use as part of a more holistic depression prevention and resilience program.

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  • Subjects without economic independence could have more addiction due to factors such as limited access to other forms of entertainment, seeking support on social networks, seeking better educational and job opportunities on the internet, and higher levels of anxiety or stress.

    “Respecto a los ingresos económicos, aquellos sin independencia económica pudieron tener más adicción por varios factores: acceso limitado a otras formas de entretenimiento: como los deportes y eventos culturales, la búsqueda de apoyo en las redes sociales, la búsqueda de mejores oportunidades educativas y laborales en internet, y los mayores niveles de ansiedad o estrés, lo que les obliga a recurr”

    From Asociación entre la adicción a la tecnología y el rendimiento académico en universitarios latinoamericanos en 2024 (2025) · cites this paper as [9]

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Authors
Sserunkuuma, J., Kaggwa, M. M., Muwanguzi, M., Najjuka, S. M., Murungi, N., Kajjimu, J., Mulungi, J., Kihumuro, R. B., Mamun, M. A., Griffiths, M. D., & Ashaba, S.
Affiliations
  • Mbarara University of Science and Technology (UG)
  • Makerere University (UG)
  • Jahangirnagar University (BD)
  • Nottingham Trent University (GB)
Corresponding author
Muwanguzi, Moses
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2023-05-26
Volume
18
Issue
5
Pages
e0286424
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0286424
PMC
PMC10218731
OpenAlex
W4378470956
Cited by
54
References
84
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 2
FWCI
23.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
Fogarty International Center (K43TW011929)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
Keywords
problematic internet use, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, internet addiction, depressive symptoms, medical students, life events, romantic relationship problems, Twitter use, digital well-being, COVID-19 remote learning, Uganda
MeSH terms
Smartphone, COVID-19, Depression, Humans, Pilot Projects, Students, Medical, Behavior, Addictive, Internet, Pandemics, Social Media

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