The risk of smartphone addiction in university students and its affecting factors

Year 2022, , 989 - 995, 20.07.2022

Nursel Üstündağ Öcal , Ahmet Öztürk

https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.1080669

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to determine the risk of smartphone addiction in university students and to reveal the factors affecting it.
Material and Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on first and fourth year students of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of a state university in the Central Anatolia Region. The study was completed with 1181 students who agreed to participate in the research. Data were collected using a sociodemographic information form consisting of 29 questions and a Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form (SAS-SF) consisting of 10 questions. Chi-square and logistic regression analysis were used in the comparative analyses, and p<0.05 values were considered statistically significant.
Results: 51.6% of the students participating in the study were female and 48.4% were male. The average age of first use of smartphones by students is 15.6±2.6 years. The average score of the students in SAS-SF is 28.12±10.65, According to the evaluation made by considering the cut-off points of the scale (above 31 for men and 33 for women), the risk of smartphone addiction was found in 34.7%.
Conclusion: It has been determined that approximately one third of the students participating in the research are at risk of smartphone addiction, and awareness of the subject should be created in the students.

Keywords

Smartphone addiction, university students, behavioral addiction

Supporting Institution

Erciyes University Scientific Research Projects Unit

Project Number

TDK-2018-8143

References

• Tatlı H. Determinants of Smartphone Choice: An Application on University Students. J Çankırı Karatekin University Faculty Economics Adm Sciences 2015; 5: 549-67.
• Sohn SY, Krasnoff L, Rees P, Kalk NJ, Carter B. The Association Between Smartphone Addiction and Sleep: A UK Cross-Sectional Study of Young Adults. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12: 1-10.
• Li L, Griffiths MD, Mei S, Niu Z. Fear of Missing Out and Smartphone Addiction Mediates the Relationship Between Positive and Negative Affect and Sleep Quality Among Chinese University Students. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11: 1-10
• Haug S, Castro RP, Kwon M, Filler A, Kowatsch T, Schaub MP. Smartphone use and smartphone addiction among young people in Switzerland. J Behav Addictions 2015; 4: 299–7.
• https://data.tuik.gov.tr/ Bulten/Index?p=Household-Informatics-Technologies -(BT)- Usage-Study -2020-33679, Access Date: April 24, 2021
• Sar AH, Işıklar A. Adaptation of problem mobile phone use scale to Turkish. J Hum Sci 2012; 9: 264-75.
• Minaz A, Çetinkaya Bozkurt Ö. Investıgatıon Of Unıversıty Students Smartphone Addıctıon Levels And Usage Purposes In Terms Of Dıfferent Varıables. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Social Sciences Institute 2017; 268-86.
• Dirik K. Investigation of the relationship between smartphone addiction and self-confidence in adolescents in terms of various variables (Master's thesis, Istanbul Gelisim University Health Sciences Institute) 2016; 1-71.
• Lin YH, Chang LR, Lee YH, Tseng HW, Kuo TB, Chen SH. Development and Validation of the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI). Public Libr Sci One 2014; 9: 1-5.
• Griffiths M. Internet addiction: Does it really exist? In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications 1998; 61-75.
• Montag C, Bey K, Sha P, et al. Is it meaningful to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction? Evidence from a cross‐cultural study from G ermany, S weden, T aiwan and C hina. Asia Pac Psychiatry 2015; 7: 20-6.
• Chen IH, Strong et al. Time invariance of three ultra-brief internet-related instruments: Smartphone application-based addiction scale (SABAS), Bergen social media addiction scale (BSMAS), and the nine-item internet gaming disorder scale-short form (IGDS-SF9)(study Part B). Addict Behav 2020; 101: 1-8.
• Kwon M, Kim DJ, Cho H, Yang S. The smartphone addiction scale: development and validation of a short version for adolescents. Public Libr Sci One 2013; 8: 1-7.
• Noyan CO, Darcin AE, Nurmedov S, Yilmaz O, Dilbaz N. Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short version among university students. Anatolian J Psychiatry 2015; 16: 73-2.
• Gümüş A. Evaluation of smartphone addiction and depression in medical faculty students, Specialization Thesis, Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health Van 2018; 25-58.
• Demircan Uza C. Examining the relationship between smartphone addiction and nomophobia and temperament in university students, Specialization Thesis, Department of Mental Health and Diseases, Hatay 2019; 1-112.
• Mazılı S. Investigation of smartphone addiction in adolescents in terms of self-control, Master Thesis, Afyon Kocatepe University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Educational Sciences, Afyonkarahisar, 2019; 1-102.
• Erkul A. The relationship between anxiety-depression and smartphone addiction in people between the ages of 18-25 who applied to the outpatient clinic, Medical Specialization Thesis, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Diyarbakır, 2019; 1- 61.
• Özcan B. Sleep quality in Pamukkale University students and its relationship with smartphone addiction, Specialization Thesis, Pamukkale University Department of Public Health, Denizli, 2019; 1-84.
• Kara Ölmeztoprak V. The Effect of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Impulsivity on Smartphone Addiction in University Students, Medical Specialization Thesis, İnönü University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Malatya, 2019; 1-108.
• Erdoğanoğlu Y, Arslan BÇ. The effect of smartphone use on physical capacity in young people. Anatolian J Psychiatry 2019; 2: Doi: 10.5455/apd.22386
• Jiang Q, Li Y, Shypenka V. Loneliness, individualism, and smartphone addiction among international students in China. Cyberpsychology Behav Soc Networking 2018; 21: 711-8.
• Gaur A. Relationship between smartphone addiction severity and depression among college students. IJ Indian Physiol 2019; 7: 19-9.
• Yayan EH, Düken ME, Dağ YS, Ulutaş A. Examination of the relationship between nursing student’s internet and smartphone addictions. J Hum Sci 2018; 15: 1161-71.
• Carbonell X, Oberst U, Beranuy M. The cell phone in the twenty-first century: A risk for addiction or a necessary tool. Principles Addiction 2013; 1: 901-9.
• Cocoradă E, Maican CI, Cazan AM, Maican MA. Assessing the smartphone addiction risk and its associations with personality traits among adolescents. Childs Youth Services Rev 2018; 93: 345-4.
• Kwon YS, Paek KS. The influence of smartphone addiction on depression and communication competence among college students. Indian J Sci Technol 2016; 9: 1-8.
• Taylan HH. Smartphone addiction in higher education students. International Conference on Quality in Higher Education, 24-25 November, Sakarya, 2016; 1093-100.
• Çalışkan N, Yalçın O, Akbudak MA, AyıkA. A study on determining the smartphone addiction levels of ceıt teacher candidates. IJ Eurasia Soc Sci 2017; 8: 111-25.
• Ertemel AV, Pektaş GÖE. Mobile Technology Addiction in terms of Consumer Behaviors in the Digitalizing World: A Qualitative Study on University Students. Journal of Yıldız Social Sciences Institute 2018; 2: 18-34.
• Chang FC, Chiu CH, Chen PH, et al. Children's Use Of Mobile Devices, Smartphone Addiction and Parental Mediation in Taiwan. Computers in Human Behavior.2019; 93: 25-32.
• Öztürk M. " Investigation of Students' Smartphone Addiction and Internet Usage ". Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University Journal of Social and Economic Research.2021; 23: 266-78.