Data set.xls

Students in sub-Saharan African countries experienced online classes for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some individuals, greater online engagement might have led to online dependency, which can be associated with depression. The present study explored the association between problematic use of the internet, social media, and smartphones and life stressors in the past 2 weeks prior to the study with depression symptoms among Ugandan medical students. Despite life stressors being the largest predictor of depression symptom score severity, problematic online use also contributed significantly. Therefore, it is recommended that medical students’ mental health care services consider digital wellbeing and its relationship with problematic online use as part of a more holistic depression prevention and resilience program.