Previously submitted to: Interactive Journal of Medical Research (no longer under consideration since Mar 28, 2025)
Date Submitted: Nov 13, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Internet Addiction, Anxiety Levels, and Salivary Cortisol among Medical Students in the North of Iran
ABSTRACT
Background:
Contrary to the positive uses of the internet, the existence of extreme behaviors and their harmful effects, especially Internet addiction (IA) among students, has attracted researchers' attention.
Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction (IA) and anxiety levels and salivary cortisol levels in medical students
Methods:
This descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study was performed on 110 medical students (intern) of Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. The demographic information was collected using a checklist. The Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was used to measure Internet addiction and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) was used to measure anxiety levels. In addition, a sample of saliva was collected in the early morning to investigate the relationship between salivary cortisol levels and IA.
Results:
The mean age of the subjects was 24.69 years (±SD 1.18). The salivary cortisol level of the subjects was 5.57 µg/dl (±SD 3.20). The IAT score for IA was significantly higher in the male than in the female group (50.42 (±SD 24.11) vs. 41.09 (±SD 22.36), respectively, P = 0.008). 54 (49.1%), 34 (30.9%), and 22 (20%) students were classified as mild, moderate, and severe Internet addiction. There is no association between IA and salivary cortisol levels (P = 0.377). The Hamilton test score for anxiety was not significantly different between male and female groups (29.22 (±SD 10.95) vs 28.05 (±SD 12.02), respectively, P = 0.682). Anxiety scores for mild, moderate, and severe IA categories showed a statistically significant difference (P = 0.035). There is no association between anxiety and salivary cortisol levels (P = 0.86).
Conclusions:
The prevalence of severe Internet addiction among medical students is close to 20%. The findings of the study showed a statistical relationship between the severity of Internet addiction and higher levels of anxiety disorders, however, there is no association between IA and salivary cortisol levels.
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