MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY IN INTERNET USER

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate mental health status of Thai internet users aged 18 to 60 years.

Material and Methods: A survey study investigated Thai mental health. An online questionnaire was administered to 584 internet users. The questionnaire comprised of personal data and the 70-item Thai Mental Health Questionnaire (TMHQ), which was divided into 5 domains of psychiatric symptoms, including; somatization, depression, anxiety, psychosis and social function. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages and means), t-tests to compare TMHQ mean scores between genders and different psychiatric histories, ANOVA to compare TMHQ mean scores among various age groups, Spearman’s Rank correlation to explore associations within different domains of mental health scores, and multiple regression analysis to examine the predictive influence of personal factors on TMHQ scores.

Results: Data showed that average age of 28.8 years, mostly comprising females and no psychiatric illness history was found within the participants. The survey showed higher TMHQ scores in anxiety domain compared to others. The 18-30 age group showed significantly higher anxiety score than others. An average age of 28.8 years was found within the participants, Females reported significantly higher somatization score than males. Nevertheless, no significantly difference found in TMHQ scores between difference psychiatric illness history report. Correlations between each domain of TMHQ varied from strong to weak. Age showed a weak negative correlation with somatization, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, its predictive capability for TMHQ scores in these three domains was found to be very low.

Conclusion: This study revealed a high level of anxiety among Thai internet users, although individuals reported no psychiatric illness history. The study also highlighted the interplay of mental health symptoms across different domains.