Internet Usage and Sleep Quality among Filipino College Students in During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased internet usage among students as they continued their education with online alternatives. Increased internet usage can lead to internet addiction. Studies have shown that internet usage and addiction lead to decreased sleep quality among students which indicates a poorer well-being. This study determined the levels of internet usage, prevalence of internet addiction, and sleep quality. The relationship between internet usage and sleep quality among 154 college students during the pandemic was determined. The sample was selected using simple random sampling. The students accomplished the survey distributed online using Google Forms. The relationship between internet usage and sleep quality was analyzed using Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient. The results showed that the college students use the internet greater than 10 hours per day and most of them suffer from internet addiction. Additionally, they also showed poor quality of sleep. Through the Spearman Rank Correlation analysis, it was found that there is a positive monotonic relationship between internet use and difficulty in sleeping. However, the decrease in sleep quality is not totally explained by the increased internet use which indicates that other external variables contribute to the poor sleep quality of students. It is recommended for universities to deliver academic instruction that encourage students to lessen their screen time and improve their sleep quality.