Depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction in university students- A cross sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesThe study aims to assess prevalence of smartphone addiction symptoms, and to ascertain whether depression or anxiety, independently, contributes to smartphone addiction level among a sample of Lebanese university students, while adjusting simultaneously for important sociodemographic, academic, lifestyle, personality trait, and smartphone-related variables.MethodsA random sample of 688 undergraduate university students (mean age = 20.64 ±1.88 years; 53% men) completed a survey composed of a) questions about socio-demographics, academics, lifestyle behaviors, personality type, and smartphone use-related variables; b) 26-item Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) Scale; and c) brief screeners of depression and anxiety (PHQ-2 and GAD-2), which constitute the two core DSM-IV items for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively.ResultsPrevalence rates of smartphone-related compulsive behavior, functional impairment, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms were substantial. 35.9% felt tired during daytime due to late-night smartphone use, 38.1% acknowledged decreased sleep quality, and 35.8% slept less than four hours due to smartphone use more than once. Whereas gender, residence, work hours per week, faculty, academic performance (GPA), lifestyle habits (smoking and alcohol drinking), and religious practice did not associate with smartphone addiction score; personality type A, class (year 2 vs. year 3), younger age at first smartphone use, excessive use during a weekday, using it for entertainment and not using it to call family members, and having depression or anxiety, showed statistically significant associations with smartphone addiction. Depression and anxiety scores emerged as independent positive predictors of smartphone addiction, after adjustment for confounders.ConclusionSeveral independent positive predictors of smartphone addiction emerged including depression and anxiety. It could be that young adults with personality type A experiencing high stress level and low mood may lack positive stress coping mechanisms and mood management techniques and are thus highly susceptible to smartphone addiction.

The relationship between addiction to smartphone usage and depression among adults: a cross sectional study

“…A systematic review of 23 peer reviewed papers reported that depression was consistently related to problematic smartphone usage [22]. Depression in Lebanese and Austrian university students was also significantly associated with smartphone addiction [12, 23] or problematic mobile phone usage [13] respectively. In fact, one of the predisposing factors of smart phone addiction is increased stress levels followed by a decrease in self-control, which eventually leads to the over usage of smartphones [24].…”

Smartphone Addiction among University Students and Its Relationship with Academic Performance

“…In terms of male students, male heavy internet users favoring online games had lower average academic grades than male non-heavy users and those who especially favor information seeking and chatting (Chen & Tzeng, 2010). Previous research showed that smartphone and internet addiction were significantly associated with alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety Matar Boumosleh & Jaalouk, 2017), poor sleep quality (Zhang et al, 2017), and quality of life . These adverse health outcomes have a negative impact on academic studies.…”

Study to assess internet usage patterns and prevalence of internet addiction among medical and engineering students of Bengaluru city

“…It has been suggested that excessive internet use could represent addictive behavior with mental health implications. [1][2][3] In tandem with the splurge in access to the Internet globally, with the rise of new-generation gadgets, the risk of "internet addiction" is emerging as a significant behavioral addiction pandemic to be tackled worldwide.…”