Subjective well-being and vulnerability related to problematic Internet use among university students with and without disabilities: A comparative study

Abstract

This study aims to observe whether people with disabilities experience problematic Internet use (PIU) like that of young people without disabilities; to relate PIU to psychological distress in young disabled people and to determine whether these problems are similar to or different from those experienced by young people without disabilities. The sample comprised 408 university students with disabilities and 1386 university students without disabilities from several Spanish universities. PIU was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and psychological distress was evaluated using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). The group of university students with disabilities showed less PIU than the nondisabled students, but the worst scores in variables referencing psychological discomfort were found among those students with disabilities who also had PIU. Although the results are not completely generalizable, PIU is related to bigger problems in disabled people for whom it represents a higher risk than for people without disabilities.