The relationship between the internet addiction and cell phone addiction with academic burnout in medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

Academic burnout in students can be caused by various reasons such as family distance, inability to communicate properly with other peers, and the large volume of courses that hurt academic performance, and achievement. This study investigated the relationship between cell phone addiction and internet addiction, with academic burnout in medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

This was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study performed on medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2020. One-hundred and ninety-nine students in basic sciences, physiopathology, internship, and externship were selected by the simple random method. Research instruments included the Kimberly Young Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Koohy Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The data were analyzed by the descriptive statistics tests, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni post hoc test, multiple linear regression, and SPSS-25 software.

The mean score of internet addiction in internship students is lower than in other courses (P< 0.001). Also, the mean score of cell phone addiction in female students was higher than male students. However, the mean score of total burnout was not different based on gender, marital status, educational level, and residence status (P> 0.05). Also, the linear regression results showed that internet use could increase academic burnout in students (P< 0.001). However, cell phone addiction did not affect academic burnout (P> 0.05).

Internet addiction can increase the risk of academic burnout in students. However, cell phone use does not increase this risk.