As the growing market of smartphone users surpassed 2 billion in the previous year, a continued topic of interest to researchers has been the link between clinical depression and social problems, including family issues, associated with this form of smart technology.

Despite relatively in-depth research into internet addiction and anxiety, fewer studies have examined the direct correlation between smartphone addiction (in university students) and the associated correlations with both mental and family health.

As such, researchers Nazir S. Hawi and Maya Samaha investigated this trend in a recent journal article published on the 20th of June, 2017.

Method:

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The experimental analysis involved 381 undergraduate university students, who participated in two separate tests; the first to identify smart phone addiction and the second to measure the degree of anxiety and associated indicators the subject suffers from.

Summarised below is an overview of the two tests:

1. Measuring addiction: Adapted Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) – 10 items involving sample questions such as ‘ability to stand not having a phone’
2. Measuring anxiety: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) – 21 items designed to deduce symptoms of anxiety suffered by the subjects (university students)

After the subjects completed the following, the results were accumulated and underwent a principle component analysis (PCA). The results of the analyses provide insight into the feasibility of the above tests via computing the percentage of explained variance recorded in each of subject’s responses – allowing corrections to provide consistency and accuracy in the findings.

Results:

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For simplicity, the following are the main findings of the journal article:
• Undergraduate university students who were shown by the SAS test to have a smartphone addiction, were 4.7 times MORE likely to display symptoms of depression.
• Undergraduate students who suffered depression were shown to be 13.4 times MORE likely to have familial problems at home.
• Link between smart phone addiction and familial issues were not shown to be statistically significant, indicating that there is NO direct causal link between the two aspects of the study, rather it is an indirect relationship.

Limitations:

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The study conducted incorporated a relatively small sample size and only examined smartphone addiction in university students, rather than encompassing diverse groups of smartphone users. Furthermore, limited use of the SAS test have been conducted previously on university students; hence longitudinal studies (examining the same group of individuals over time) is needed to provide further insight into the issue, as a cross-sectional study ONLY provides a snapshot in time.

Conclusion:

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Overall, there a number of important findings which can be discerned from the study. Firstly, a positive correlation exists between smartphone addiction and increased symptoms of depression; indicating that those shown to have elevated levels of smart phone use are MORE likely to suffer depression (in relation to university students). In addition, despite the link being statistically insignificant, an indirect link between smart phone addiction and family relation issues can also be established.

These findings add to the growing concerns of the scientific communities about controlling technology and smart phone usage due to the effects of addiction. It is vital that we promote a balance in lifestyle – one which is less dependent on smart phones and more dependent on real-life interaction, especially in young children.

Source:

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http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/0144929X.2017.1336254

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