Future Teachers’ Smartphone Uses and Dependence

Abstract

Smartphones are indeed becoming an essential tool in the daily lives and relations of their users in recent years, thanks to their uses and potential. However, excessive and inappropriate use can lead to dependence syndromes. The objectives of our study were to ascertain how these devices are being used and whether students are at risk of addiction. The study was carried out based on a survey with students-future teachers-from two Spanish universities. A sample of 453 students between the ages of 18 and 47 was analyzed, 76.8% female and 23.2% male. Smartphones were found to be the preferred Internet connection device for 80% of students, 38% of students connect to the Internet five hours or more a day (which can be considered an addiction) and smartphones are used primarily to connect with others (social media and instant messaging). The abusive use of smartphones affects men's behavior more than women and can lead them to neglect other activities, while smartphones affect women more in the emotional field, in matters related to boredom, impatience, and irritability.

Mexican and Spanish university students’ Internet addiction and academic procrastination: Correlation and potential factors

“…The ratio of cases to population size for each sociodemographic factor revealed the most cases among Mexican men, coinciding with other studies that highlight men's prevalence over women [16,33]. In the Spanish sample, conversely, the highest rate was among women, as has been noted in other studies [1,2].…”

“…the most students used smartphones (x) to access the Internet, not coincidentally, but because the smartphone is overall the most used device [30] and also used to access social networks [32,33]. Among the multiple linear regression model's main findings were the following potentially influential factors for Internet addiction (RQ4): in Mexican students, sexual orientation, daily use of Internet for leisure, and the electronic device used; for Spanish students, area of knowledge, number of social networks, daily use of Internet for academic purposes, and daily use of Internet for leisure.…”

“…More recent studies have collected data alerting us to a medium-high degree of smartphone addiction among university students of education [32]. In this same population, other studies have indicated that smartphones have been the most widely used device for connecting to the network, that connecting for more than 5 hours was associated with addictive behavior, and that smartphone abuse affected men's behavior more than women's, especially in neglecting other tasks [33]. Thus, because the user spends much time surfing the Internet, accessing social networks, and watching videos on digital platforms, among other uses, neglect of tasks is consequent to PIU.…”

Análisis de la adicción al smartphone en estudiantes universitarios

“…Como se ha venido comentando, algunos de ellos pasan más de tres horas con el smartphone, lo cual corresponde a un número elevado de horas que puede entrañar comportamientos adictivos (Ruiz, 2016;Ruiz-Palmero, Sánchez-Rodríguez y Trujillo-Torres, 2016). No obstante, el porcentaje de estudiantes que pasan más de tres horas con el smartphone es inferior al obtenido en otros trabajos con estudiantes universitarios, donde más de la mitad pasan un tiempo mínimo de cinco o más horas diarias (Ruiz-Palmero et al, 2019).…”

Virtual Reality Treatment for Public Speaking Anxiety in Students. Advancements and Results in Personalized Medicine

“…What is also of concern is the increase of this type of disorder in the new generations, encouraged by the social isolation that is being aggravated by the use of social networks and Internet addiction [9,10]. Not interacting face-to-face is becoming an aggravating factor in PES and this is favored by the excessive time spent by young people on the network [11]. Therefore, analyzing PSA in the student population is important to know how this disorder is evolving with the current development of technology.…”