Smartphone users have increased to over two and a half billion people and it is predicted to rise to five billion by the year of 2020. These smartphone users have been spending an increasing amount of time and indicating an obsession with a virtual world. Obviously, smartphone users include students from secondary school to tertiary levels. Their constant engagement with mobile phones has raised questions of whether it has developed into an addiction that may have negative consequences on academic performance. With regards to these issues, the present study aims to examine problematic smartphone use, hours spent, factors and activities involved and possible risk of phone addiction among the university students in the Malaysian context. This study employs a descriptive research design to collect data. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and frequency and percentage. Fifty-five out eighty students responded to a survey which was applied randomly among students from a public higher learning institution. The findings indicated that most of the students somewhat agreed that they used smartphones without any compelling reasons at very hour and that it induces emotional stability. The findings indicated that most of the students somewhat agreed that they used smartphones without any compelling reasons at very hour and that it induces emotional stability. The findings also imply that students were somewhat addicted to smartphone but at the same time they did use their smartphone for academic purposes. Consequently, it is expected that the findings from this study will help higher learning institutions to better understand the pattern of smartphone usage among university students and to reduce or control academically disruptive smart phone addiction behavior.   Keywords: Addiction, Mobile Addiction, Mobile Phone, Smartphone, University Students

Purpose – Smartphones have become part and parcel of life in the 21st century.  However, limited studies have examined the impact of mobile addiction and interpersonal relationship on academic behaviour among adolescents in higher education. Hence, this study was conducted to explore the relationship between these three variables in the Malaysian higher education context.   Methodology – A descriptive correlational research design was employed to collect and analyse the data from a total of 150 young adults who responded to an online Google form distributed through a WhatsApp link. The items in the questionnaire were adapted from various doctorate studies. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean and standard deviation, correlation and multiple regression.   Findings – The study found that adolescents in Higher Education in Malaysia have a moderate level of mobile addiction. The results also established that the three variables, namely mobile addiction, interpersonal relationship, and academic behaviour, were interrelated. The findings suggest that relationship status, interpersonal relationship and gender contributed to the variance in the academic behaviour of adolescents in higher education, with relationship status being the most significant. The study also found that smartphones do not affect the academic behaviour of adolescents.   Significance – The findings provide valuable information to help facilitate the monitoring of mobile usage behaviour of adolescents in higher education.

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Purpose – Smartphones have become part and parcel of life in the 21st century. Since there has been limited research exploring the relationship between mobile addiction, interpersonal relationship, and academic behaviour among young adults in tertiary institutions, the present study has embarked on an exploration of the relationship between these three variables in the Malaysian higher education context. Methodology – A descriptive correlational research design was employed to collect and analyse the data, which came from a total of 150 young adults who responded to an online Google form distributed through a WhatsApp link. The items in the questionnaire were adapted from various doctorate studies. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as the mean and standard deviation, correlation, and multiple regression. Findings – The study found that young adults in tertiary institutions in Malaysia experienced a case of moderate mobile addiction. The results also established that the three variables, namely mobile addiction, interpersonal relationship, and academic behaviour, were interrelated. The findings revealed that interpersonal relationship has positively contributed to the variance of academic behaviour, while mobile addiction has negatively impacted young adults’ academic behaviour in tertiary institutions. Significance – The findings have provided valuable insights into how to help facilitate the monitoring of disruptive mobile usage among young adults in tertiary institutions.

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