Problematic Internet Use and Attachment Styles in Nursing Students

The frequency of internet use is increasing rapidly all over the world. Studies investigating the relationship between internet use and attachment styles are limited in the world and in Turkey. In this study, it was aimed to determine the frequency of internet use of nursing students and to examine the difference between problematic internet use and attachment styles. This study aims to examine the problematic internet use and attachment styles by determining nursing students’ frequency of internet use.  The universe of this descriptive study comprises all the nursing students at universities in Istanbul while the sample of the study consists of the 987 students who met the criteria of eligibility for participating in this study.  The data of the research was collected by using an information form, Online Cognition Scale and Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory-II. 93.5% (n = 923) of the nursing students were women and the mean age was 20.89 ± 1.96.  It was determined that the students’ total grade point average for the Online Cognition Scale was 78.82 ± 34.38.  Concerning the internet attachment styles of the students, it was decided that 29.8% (n = 294) of the students were anxious, 28.9% (n = 285) secure, 21.1% (n = 208) indifferent, and 20.2% (n = 200) obsessed.  It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the Online Cognition Scale total score and sub-dimension scores and attachment styles. Problematic internet was found to be higher in groups other than students with secure attachment style.

Cite this article: Koç, M., & Buzlu, S. (2022). Problematic internet use and attachment styles in nursing students. Current Perspectives in Social Sciences, 26(1), 130-136.