The effect of university students’ COVID-19 stress on smartphone addiction: The mediating effects of self-regulation

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between COVID-19 stress, self-regulation, and smartphone addiction among university students. It also assessed whether self-regulation mediates the relationship between COVID-19 stress and smartphone addiction. The participants comprised 346 students enrolled in G city university. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS to generate descriptive statistics, perform a correlation analysis, and create a structural equation model. The main findings were as follows. First, COVID-19 stress had a negative correlation with self-regulation, but a positive correlation with smartphone addiction. A negative correlation was observed between self-regulation ability and smartphone addiction. Secondly, self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between COVID-19 stress and smartphone addiction. The results will inform educational and counseling interventions aimed at preventing smartphone addiction among university students living in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Self-regulation and tendency of smartphone addiction among college students

“…Conversely, a person with low selfregulation usually uses an excessive smartphone and does not use the smartphone nicely. He could not control his desires or not even limit himself in using a smartphone (Ara Choi, 2021;Azizah, 2021), thus causing the risk of behaviour towards a higher smartphone addiction (Van Deursen et al, 2015). The correlation test results also showed a significant negative relationship between the tendency of smartphone addiction and self-regulation (r = -0.323; p<0.05), thus strengthening the variable relationship in this study.…”

Investigation of the Effects of Smartphone Use on the Dominant Thumb and Wrist of University Students

“…In his study, Yılmaz concluded that 42.6% of students check their phones 41 times a day or more (28). In the study by Noyan et al,38.7% of the students checked their smartphones 40 or more times; It was observed that 23.6% of them checked 20 times a day or less (19). In our study, 27% of the students checked 31-40 times, 24% 11-20 times, 23% 40 times a day, and more; It was determined that 5% of them checked their smartphones ten times or less.…”

“…Choi et al, in their study on 315 students using smartphones, determined that as the duration of use of the devices increased, the problems related to the musculoskeletal system grew, and they found that the pain was also associated with the period of use of these devices (38). Turgay et al found that students with pain in the hands/wrists at any time during the last 12 months had higher mean scores in SAS-SF than those who did not (39).…”

Young adults' online shopping addiction: The role of self‐regulation and smartphone use

“…According to Statista (2021) in 2021, global retail online commerce sales amounted to approximately 5.2 trillion U.S. dollars and the figure is expected to grow by 56% over the next years, reaching about 8.1 trillion dollars by 2026. There is also evidence of an increase in addictive online behaviours during the COVID‐19 pandemic, such as smartphone addiction (Choi, 2021) and compulsive online shopping, particularly among young people (Gordon‐Wilson, 2022; Zamboni et al, 2021). This pandemic purchase experience has potential to define what is regarded as the new normal in the post‐pandemic world (Rippé et al, 2022), which highlight the importance of understanding the problematic online behaviours of the young.…”