Loneliness and Problematic Internet Use during COVID-19 Lock-Down
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The Social Development Office, Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Kuwait City 13150, Kuwait
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Department of Information Science, Kuwait University, Kuwait City 25944, Kuwait
3
Faculty of Education, Kuwait University, Kuwait City 25944, Kuwait
4
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AS, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Behav. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11010005
Received: 14 December 2020
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Revised: 22 December 2020
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Accepted: 30 December 2020
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Published: 6 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Health Psychology)
(1) Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, strict lock-down and quarantine were widely imposed by most governments to minimize the spread of the virus. Previous studies have investigated the consequences of the quarantine and social isolation on mental health and the present study examines loneliness and problematic internet use. (2) Methods: The current research used a cross-sectional survey during a lock-down phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 593 participants from the Middle East region (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) were tested using the short form of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Internet Addiction Test. (3) Results: Results from regression analyses showed an association between loneliness and Problematic Internet Use (PIU), and an association between loneliness and the number of hours spent online. Younger participants reported greater loneliness. The quality of the relationship with the person(s) with whom they were spending their lock-down was also correlated with loneliness. Those who reported greater loneliness also obtained frequent news about the pandemic from social media. Problematic internet use was associated with loneliness and the predictors of loneliness. ANOVA analyses showed a dose-response between the predictors and PIU. (4) Conclusions: This study highlights the influence of the social characteristics of the local culture during the COVID-19 lock-down on feelings of loneliness and on PIU.
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Keywords:
problematic internet use; internet addiction; loneliness; quarantine; lock-down; COVID-19; Middle East
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MDPI and ACS Style
Alheneidi, H.; AlSumait, L.; AlSumait, D.; Smith, A.P. Loneliness and Problematic Internet Use during COVID-19 Lock-Down. Behav. Sci. 2021, 11, 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11010005
AMA Style
Alheneidi H, AlSumait L, AlSumait D, Smith AP. Loneliness and Problematic Internet Use during COVID-19 Lock-Down. Behavioral Sciences. 2021; 11(1):5. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11010005
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlheneidi, Hasah, Loulwah AlSumait, Dalal AlSumait, and Andrew P. Smith. 2021. "Loneliness and Problematic Internet Use during COVID-19 Lock-Down" Behavioral Sciences 11, no. 1: 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11010005
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