The effect of COVID-19 uncertainty on internet addiction, happiness and life satisfaction in adolescents.
Mahmut Evli, Nuray Şimşek
PMID 36428049WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents who felt more uncertain about COVID-19 reported more internet addiction and lower happiness.
Uncertainty was not associated with life satisfaction. These single-city self-report links do not show cause.
Key findings
01In the model, greater impact of COVID-19 events was significantly linked to higher intolerance of uncertainty.
02Higher intolerance of uncertainty was significantly linked to more internet addiction and lower happiness, but not to life satisfaction.
03Internet addiction was significantly linked to lower happiness and lower life satisfaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that uncertainty caused internet addiction or lower happiness. It included adolescents from one province in Turkey, so the findings may not apply to other places or groups. All data were measured with self-report scales. Almost the entire group had no diagnosed mental illness, so it says little about adolescents with psychiatric diagnoses. The study was limited to the epidemic period and to adolescents only.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and said they alone were responsible for the content and writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these paths as proof that uncertainty caused internet addiction or lowered happiness. The data were collected once from self-report scales in one city, so they show associations only.