Abstract. Introduction. The implementation of technology and the internet has brought many bene- fits, but excessive and uncontrolled use of the internet has raised concerns about the emergence of addictive behaviors. The aim of the study was to identify internet addiction among nursing students at the University of Palermo through the use of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Materials and methods. The study was carried out in April 2024. Its design is cross-sectional. The study population is made up of first, second and third year nursing students at the University of Palermo (Italy) and Supplementary year students. The IAT was administered. An ordered logistic regression was performed, with dependent variable “internet addiction”, in order to evaluate the role of the variables of the questionnaire. Results. 801 individuals filled out the questionnaire. 9.74% of the sample are “Above average users/Internet use is very intense”. The ordered logistic regression shows the statistically significant covariates associated with the IAT: increasing age (aOR = 0.92), male gender (aOR = 2.59), not living with one’s family (aOR = 2.86), being single (aOR = 1.96), perceived health status medium (aOR = 2.19) and low (aOR = 13.35), having had sleep disturbances in the last two weeks (aOR = 2.77). Conclusions. Due to the increase in information technology availability, more and more individuals have a risky use of the internet which could lead to addiction. Information and training campaigns on the use of the internet and information technologies should be implemented among the general population to increase knowledge of the phe- nomenon.

Key words: University students, nursing students, Italy, Sicily, internet addiction, internet

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