Investigation of the relationship between internet addiction and sleep quality in nursing students

The study was conducted to determine internet addiction and sleep quality levels in nursing students and to examine the relationship between internet addiction and sleep quality. The universe of this descriptive study consisted of 400 students studying at the Nursing Department of Çankırı Karatekin University between November 2021 and February 2022. The sample consisted of students who agreed to participate in the study and continued their education at the time the data were collected. In order to collect data, Personal Information Form, Young Internet Addiction Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used. In the evaluation of the data; mean, standard deviation, median, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, Spearman's Rho Coefficient, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test, Dunn Test and Logistic Regression Analysis were used. According to the research findings, the mean of Young Internet Addiction Scale score was 30.61±16.71 and the mean of PSQI score was 5.96±2.68. Among the students who participated in the study, 17-20 years old compared to those aged 21 and over (p=0.047), 1st grade students compared to those who study in other classes (p<0.001), and those who live at home compared to those who live in the dormitory (p=0.010) It was determined that those who use the internet for 4 hours or more per day have more internet addiction than those who use the internet less (p=0.030), those who use the internet for social media purposes have a statistically significant higher internet addiction than those who use the internet for other purposes (p=0.028). In terms of sleep quality, it was determined that smokers (p=0.032), those staying in a dormitory room (p=0.026), and those with a daily internet use time of 4 hours or more had more bad sleep quality (p=0.001). In addition, a positive and significant relationship was found between the students Young Internet Addiction Scale score and their PSQI score (p<0.001). As a result, nursing students with higher internet addiction have worse sleep quality, indicating that internet addiction is an important factor related to sleep quality. For this reason, it is recommended that necessary training plans and psychosocial support programs be carried out immediately in order to ensure good sleep quality and conscious internet use.