ANALYSIS OF THE PATHOLOGICAL USE OF THE INTERNET AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH COMMON MENTAL DISORDERS IN THE UNIVERSITY POPULATION

Abstract

Communication technologies are implicated in the revolution of people's way of socializing and in their ways of acquiring knowledge. Pathological use of the internet is defined as that which corresponds to negligent and/or obsessive use. Common mental disorders (CMD) represent an important psychiatric concept to designate signs and symptoms of insomnia, fatigue, irritability, amnesia, difficulty concentrating, and somatic complaints that can progress to functional disability. This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, in which 174 medical students participated in the study at a University in Southern Brazil. Between March and April 2024, three instruments were applied simultaneously: a questionnaire on sociodemographic data, one for the screening of common mental disorders, and the scale for problematic internet use. The level of significance adopted was 5% and the statistical analyses used were performed in the R 4.4.1 environment. Of the 174 participants in the survey, 56.32% were between 18 and 24 years old, 60.92% identified themselves as cis women, and 74.14% mentioned being heterosexual. The prevalence of possible cases of CMD was 72.41%. Staying connected to the internet for longer than they should (p=0.01), failing to do important tasks (p<0.001) and losing hours of sleep to use social networks (p=0.008) are the criteria with a statistically significant association with the classification as possible cases of CMD. Problematic use of the internet, especially in relation to excessive connection time, prioritization of social networks to the detriment of important tasks, and loss of sleep hours, demonstrated a statistically significant association with the classification of participants as possible cases of CMD, reflecting a high prevalence of these disorders in this study.