Association Between Cellphone Overuse and Depression Among Medical College Students in Hamadan, West of Iran

Abstract

Background: Its contact the main reason for the use of mobile phones is especially students living in dormitories. As well as students to communicate in cyber space than in real space of communication are interested, this can threaten their mental health. Objectives: The current study aimed at exploring the amount of mobile phone overuse and determining the association between mobile phone overuse and depression among medical college students in Hamadan, West of Iran. Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted through the stratified sampling method on 300 students residing in dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographic characteristics, the cellphone overuse scale (COS), and the Beck depression inventory. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 using the linear regression analysis, independent t test, and one-way ANOVA. Results:The results showed that 45% of the students use their mobile phone for 3 to 6 hours per day; 32% had excessive use of cellphone. Similarly, 22% of participants had minor depression and 20.7% of the students had moderate depression. Also, the results showed that cellphone overuse significantly promoted depression (ß = 0.351, P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the obtained results, excessive users of cellphones were more depressed. It seems that living in student dormitories provides better conditions for mental disorders. Therefore, it seems necessary to consider the psychological problems of dormitory students.

The problematic use of mobile phone and mental health: A review study in Iran

“…Investigating the expertise of the corresponding authors of the 47 selected articles showed that the problematic use of mobile phone has attracted the attention of various study fields including medical sciences,[ 27 ] safety engineering,[ 28 29 ] curriculum planning,[ 30 31 ] psychiatry,[ 32 33 ] social sciences,[ 34 ] educational technology,[ 35 ] communications,[ 36 37 ] educational management,[ 38 39 ] health education,[ 40 41 42 43 44 45 ] counseling,[ 46 47 ] nursing,[ 48 49 50 51 52 53 ] epidemiology,[ 54 55 ] and psychology. [ 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 ] The findings also showed that problematic use of mobile phone was investigated the most by psychologists because they constituted up to half of the corresponding authors.…”

“…Numerous terms such as addiction, dependency, overuse, problematic use, high use, and excessive use were employed to address the problematic use of mobile phones [ Table 1 ]. Out of the 47 articles in the current review, the term “addiction” was used in 18 studies (38.3%),[ 30 31 32 34 36 37 42 48 53 56 57 61 62 63 66 68 70 71 ] “dependency” was used in 11 studies (23.4%),[ 35 39 41 42 49 50 51 60 64 65 69 ] “overuse” in nine studies (19.1%),[ 27 28 29 40 45 46 47 55 58 ] “problematic use” in five (10.6%) of the studied papers,[ 59 63 67 72 73 ] “high use” appeared in three studies (6.4%),[ 33 38 52 ] and “excessive use” appeared in one study (2.1%). [ 44 ] It should be noted that these reported percentages are based on the terms used in the title, or in the abstract if not mentioned in the title.…”

“…These questionnaires, in order of frequency, are as follows: Cell-Phone Over-Use Scale developed by Jenaro et al . [ 3 ] used in 12 studies;[ 28 29 40 46 47 48 55 58 59 61 67 73 ] Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale developed by Bianchi and Phillips,[ 2 ] used in 7 studies;[ 27 34 44 45 56 60 68 ] Cell phone Addiction Scale developed by Koo,[ 76 ] used in 6 articles;[ 31 39 49 50 51 69 ] Mobile Phone Addiction Index developed by Leung,[ 20 ] used in 4 articles;[ 41 43 62 66 ] Mobile Phone Usage Behaviour Questionnaire developed by Hopper and Zhou,[ 77 ] used in 2 studies;[ 30 35 ] Mobile Phone Addiction Questionnaire developed by Jafarzadeh,[ 78 ] used in one study;[ 64 ] Smartphone Addiction Scale developed by Kwon,[ 79 ] used in one article;[ 53 ] and Mobile-Phone Addiction Questionnaire developed by Savari,[ 71 ] used in a study. [ 57 ]…”

“…The problematic use of mobile phone can negatively affect the quality of sleep;[ 28 29 33 55 58 ] quality of life;[ 46 ] educational self-concept;[ 39 ] academic engagement;[ 39 ] the motivation for advancement;[ 59 ] academic performance;[ 33 59 ] mental health;[ 27 28 ] social interactions;[ 38 ] and feeling of loneliness;[ 41 ] and also can increase academic burnout,[ 31 ] aggression,[ 50 ] anxiety,[ 68 ] and depression. [ 40 ]…”

“…[ 50 ] Other studies showed that the problematic use of mobile phone had a positive and significant relationship with anxiety[ 68 ] and excessive users of cell phones were more depressed. [ 40 ]…”