Search Results (69)

The rapidly changing dynamics of the digital age reshape the addiction relationship that high school students establish with technology. While smartphones remove boundaries in terms of communication and access to information, their usage triggers a source of anxiety and nomophobia. The increase in students’ anxiety levels because of their over-reliance on mobile phone use leads to significant behavioral changes in their mental health, academic performance, social interactions and financial dependency. This study examined the nomophobia levels of high school students according to selected socio-demographic indicators. Using the relational screening model, the multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 884 participants: 388 from Science High School and 496 from Anatolian High School (459 female, 425 male, Mage = 16.45 ± 1.14 year). Independent sample test and One-way ANOVA were applied. Depending on the homogeneity assumption of the data, Welch values were considered, and Tukey tests were applied as a second-level test from post hoc analyses. Comprehensive analyses of nomophobia levels revealed that young individuals’ attitudes towards digital technology differ significantly according to their demographic and behavioral characteristics. Variables such as gender, physical activity participation, grade level and duration of smartphone use are among the main factors affecting nomophobia levels. Female individuals and students who do not participate in physical activity exhibit higher nomophobia scores. Full article

In this research, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between the main dimensions of personality (Extraversion, Maturity, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Self-actualization) and mobile phone addiction, both directly and mediated by the professional context (professional status), and moderated by adaptive cognitive-emotional coping strategies. The participants, adult Romanian citizens, completed measures of personality—Big Five ABCD-M, a mobile phone addiction questionnaire, and the CERQ for adaptive coping strategies. They also responded to a question about current professional status (employed, student, etc.). Data were analyzed using Jamovi, and the findings were somewhat unexpected, though it aligned with the existing literature. Maturity emerged as a consistent inverse predictor of smartphone addiction (r = −0.45, β = −0.43, p < 0.001) across all three analyses. Extraversion showed an indirect effect mediated by professional status (β = −0.077, p < 0.05). Self-actualization was also found to predict smartphone addiction positively through full mediation by professional status (β = 0.05, p < 0.05). Agreeableness became a significant negative predictor (β = −0.13, p < 0.05) only when adaptive coping strategies were included. These findings highlight that the transition from frequent smartphone use—whether for work or personal reasons—to addiction can be subtle. This study may support both the general population in understanding smartphone use from a psycho-emotional perspective and organizations in promoting a healthy work-life balance. Full article

In the digital age, mobile phones significantly impact human cognition and behavior. This experimental study examined the effects of passive mobile phone presence on attentional control in young adults aged 18–25. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (no phone) or an experimental group (phone present). Attention control was measured using the Attention Network Test (ANT). In contrast, smartphone nomophobia and addiction were measured with the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV). Contrary to previous literature, the presence of a mobile phone did not significantly distract participants or impair attentional performance. No significant relationship emerged between self-reported levels of distraction or nomophobia and actual attentional performance, although smartphone addiction seemed to have a weak effect on the errors made by those who performed in the presence of their mobile phone. Significant gender differences were found in terms of nomophobia, with women reporting higher levels than men. This study suggests that the relationship between mobile phone presence and attentional processes is more complex than previously hypothesized, bringing the existing literature under further consideration. Full article

Background: Research has shown that social anxiety can trigger smartphone addiction, but relatively few studies have explored the specific mechanisms underlying the relationship between social anxiety and smartphone addiction. This study explores the specific mechanisms underlying the relationship between social anxiety and smartphone addiction by examining the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of gender. Methods: In five universities, 10 classes of university students were randomly selected from each university. A total of 2500 university students participated in the actual assessment throughout this study and completed the Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale, Ruminative Responses Scale, and Interaction Anxiousness Scale. The data were analysed using SPSS 27.0. Results: The results of this study revealed that (1) rumination plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between social anxiety and smartphone addiction and that social anxiety not only has a direct effect on smartphone addiction but also indirectly affects smartphone addiction through rumination. (2) The mediating role of rumination between social anxiety and smartphone addiction is moderated by gender. Conclusions: Social anxiety is significantly and positively associated with smartphone addiction among university students, with rumination influencing this association. In addition, the indirect relationship between rumination and smartphone addiction was moderated by gender; however, the direct relationship between social anxiety and smartphone addiction was not affected by gender. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the lifestyle and the behavioral factors that influence the nutritional status of adolescents from Transylvania, Romania. Methods: The Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was used to collect data from 900 adolescents between 11 and 18 years old from the Transylvania region, Romania. This study assessed nutritional status by calculating BMI indicators adjusted to Z-Score, cut-off points according to the World Health Organization (WHO), using self-reported weight and height; perceived health status; food vulnerability; physical activity; addictive behaviors (cigarette, alcohol and drug consumption); number of hours spent in front of the computer/phone; hand and oral hygiene; sitting time/day; and sleep. Multivariate logistic regression was used to establish the lifestyle factors that influenced nutritional status. Results: The results showed that 8.7% (n = 78) of girls and 15.2% (n = 137) boys were overweight and obese. In total, 75% of the respondents were engaged in sedentary behaviors, and 65.8% (n = 592) had more than 2 h/day of screen exposure, considering that 98.7% of the study population had a mobile phone. The Romanian adolescents had poor dietary behaviors: over 80% of them did not meet the recommended amount of vegetable and fruit intake per day. Increased BMI was associated with higher-strength physical exercise and with being a boy. Conclusions: While some positive trends are evident, such as good oral and hand hygiene and low prevalence of smoking and drug use, significant challenges remain in areas like nutrition, physical activity, alcohol consumption and screen time. Full article

This study investigates the impact of excessive mobile phone use on young individuals aged 14–35 in Kastoria, Greece. It explores how smartphone addiction affects daily life and social interactions. A survey with 30 closed-ended questions was conducted among 150 respondents from May to August 2019. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, focusing on gender and employment status differences. Most respondents use their phones for over 5 h daily, primarily for social media and communication. Findings reveal high addiction rates, reduced productivity, and disrupted sleep. Women reported more difficulty disconnecting and a greater need for detoxification than men. Students and unemployed individuals showed higher addiction symptoms and negative productivity impacts compared to employed respondents. Excessive mobile phone use among young people poses significant challenges, including addiction and adverse effects on productivity, relationships, and sleep, influenced by gender and employment status. Full article

As Generation Z youth grow up with the Internet, problematic smartphone use is growing more prevalent. This study administered questionnaires containing measures such as the Mobile Phone Addiction Index, the Research Self-Efficacy Scale, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the Stress Mindset Measure. The survey targeted 2278 graduate students and explored the mechanism through which problematic smartphone use affects research self-efficacy (RSE). The results reveal that problematic smartphone use has significant negative effects on self-efficacy, with mental stress playing a mediating role in this process; that is, problematic smartphone use lowers RSE by increasing mental stress. Meanwhile, the aforementioned negative impacts caused by problematic smartphone use are moderated by stress mindsets: the “stress-is-enhancing” mindset reduces the negative effects of smartphone use on RSE, whereas the “stress-is-debilitating” mindset amplifies these negative effects by enhancing the mediating effect of mental stress. Full article

With the popularity of smartphones, a large number of “phubbers” have emerged who are engrossed in their phones regardless of the situation. In response to the potential dangers that phubbers face while traveling, this paper proposes a multimodal danger perception network model and early warning system for phubbers, designed for mobile devices. This proposed model consists of surrounding environment feature extraction, user behavior feature extraction, and multimodal feature fusion and recognition modules. The environmental feature module utilizes MobileNet as the backbone network to extract environmental description features from the rear-view image of the mobile phone. The behavior feature module uses acceleration time series as observation data, maps the acceleration observation data to a two-dimensional image space through GADFs (Gramian Angular Difference Fields), and extracts behavior description features through MobileNet, while utilizing statistical feature vectors to enhance the representation capability of behavioral features. Finally, in the recognition module, the environmental and behavioral characteristics are fused to output the type of hazardous state. Experiments indicate that the accuracy of the proposed model surpasses existing methods, and it possesses the advantages of compact model size (28.36 Mb) and fast execution speed (0.08 s), making it more suitable for deployment on mobile devices. Moreover, the developed image-acceleration multimodal phubber hazard recognition network combines the behavior of mobile phone users with surrounding environmental information, effectively identifying potential hazards for phubbers. Full article

By the onset of the 21st century, online presence had become prevalent in higher education, with the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerating this trend. However, the success of online education and its assessment by students can differ significantly from region to region and according to the field of study. This can be influenced by students’ habits of using IT devices, but it can also occur the other way around. In this research, experiences related to online education were examined in the fields of Informatics, Agriculture and Pharmacy education at two higher-education institutions in Slovakia and one in Hungary, considering the environmental and social sustainability implications. In the study, in addition to simple statistical methods, a cross-tabulation analysis was carried out using Cramer’s V method. The results have shown that the students of the investigated institutions confidently navigate the online world; they are conscious users of IT tools without being addicted. A total of 74% of students in Mosonmagyaróvár believe they possess sufficient information about the risks associated with computers, mobile phones, and the Internet, whereas only 34% of students in Košice share the same sentiment. The reason for the differences between these characteristics can be attributed to the specialties of the different majors, and not to those arising from regional differences, raising important questions about the ecological sustainability of online education practices. A relatively great consistency can be observed in the assessment of online learning among students from the three institutions, with approximately 85% expressing overall satisfaction with the online learning experience. The easier availability of study materials and savings on travel are mentioned as advantages, contributing to economic sustainability. However, separation from their mates and the lack of practical training may be regarded as a disadvantage for them, as they seem to have a preference for face-to-face training. Overall, it may be concluded that purely online training in the fields of Informatics, Agriculture, and Pharmacy training is not feasible for the time being, necessitating a balanced and sustainable approach for the future. Full article

Background: The prevailing mobile phone use brought the problem of addiction, which might cause negative consequences. Effortful control and mind wandering were associated with addictive behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the dimension-level relationships between effortful control, mind wandering, and mobile phone addiction. Methods: A total of 1684 participants participated this study. The mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering were measured through self-report scales, respectively. Dimension-level network of these psychological variables was estimated and bridge expected influence (BEI) values for each node was calculated. Results: Dimensions of mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering exhibited distinct and complex links to each other. The node “activation control” exhibited the highest negative BEI value (BEI = −0.32), whereas “spontaneous thinking” showed the highest positive BEI value (BEI = 0.20). Conclusions: Different dimensions of effortful control and mind wandering had varied yet significant connections with distinct dimensions of mobile phone addiction, facilitating understanding of the specific pathways underlying the three constructs. The identified dominant bridge nodes can provide potential targets for the intervention of mobile phone addiction. Full article

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationships between perceived social support and mobile phone addiction, as well as the mediating effect of depressive symptoms and the moderating effect of self-compassion. Methods: A total of 874 college students completed questionnaires, including the perceived social support scale, depression–anxiety–stress scale, mobile phone addiction index, and the short form of the self-compassion scale. The participants included 202 males and 672 females, with an average age of 19.54 (SD = 2.16). Results: A moderated mediation analysis was conducted. The results revealed that perceived social support fully mediated the negative relationship between perceived social support and mobile phone addiction. Self-compassion attenuated the mediating effects. Conclusions: The present study indicated that insufficient perceived social support may increase the risk of mobile phone addiction among college students because of the impact of depressive symptoms. However, self-compassion could buffer this adverse effect. Full article

Background: Problematic smartphone use has increasingly become the focus of attention in recent years. Although it has been noted that parental psychological control is significantly correlated with teenagers’ social anxiety and problematic smartphone use, little is known about how these factors may interact with college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether social anxiety mediates the association between parental psychological control and problematic smartphone use. Methods: a total of 534 Chinese college students aged 17–25 years (male 59.0%, female 41.0%) participated in the study (M = 20.40, SD = 1.72). The Parental Psychological Control questionnaire, the Social Phobia Inventory, and the Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale were used to evaluate parental psychological control, social anxiety, and problematic smartphone use, respectively. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation analysis. Results: the results showed that (1) social anxiety was positively correlated with problematic smartphone use among college students, (2) parental psychological control has a significant correlation with college students’ social anxiety, (3) college students’ social anxiety was positively related with problematic smartphone use, and (4) social anxiety plays a mediation role in the association between parental psychological control and problematic smartphone use. Conclusions: in conclusion, social anxiety plays a mediating role in the relationship between parental psychological control and problematic smartphone use, and reducing parental psychological control is an effective intervention means to directly or indirectly reduce college students’ problematic smartphone use. In addition, attention should be paid to parenting styles, and measures should be taken to increase social interaction among college students so as to reduce their problematic smartphone use. Full article

In modern society, people are becoming increasingly addicted to mobile phones, resulting in the alienation from objective real life and in people becoming captives of mobile phones. As the saying goes, since there is such a social phenomenon, there will inevitably be social reflection around it. Therefore, this article explores the reasons for the generation, maintenance forces, and coming difficulties of “mobile phone captives”, and explores some possible solutions and redemptions. Full article

Nomophobia is an emerging phenomenon in the 21st century. Consequently, it results in various health problems, both physical and psychological. The following systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to establish the relationship between nomophobia with anxiety, smartphone addiction, and insomnia. To identify the relevant studies, we searched through several databases. Out of the 1523 studies identified, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. After conducting the statistical analysis, the results revealed that anxiety r = 0.31 (95% CI: 0.25 to 0.38), smartphone addiction r = 0.39 (95% CI: 0.04 to 0.75), and insomnia r = 0.56 (95% CI: 0.38 to 0.75) are positively associated with nomophobia. Mobile phone usage has become inevitable, even for individuals who use it to a lesser degree than others, to perform simple tasks, such as communicating with others or for educational purposes. It is crucial to raise awareness about the consequences of overusing these devices, including the physical and psychological complications in both the short and long terms. Full article

Background: Digital interventions are an emerging and promising avenue for addiction prevention and mental health promotion, but their reach and use are often limited, and little is known about the factors associated with youth accessibility. SmartCoach is a life skills training program for addiction prevention where adolescents are proactively invited for program participation in secondary school classes. The mobile phone-based program provides individualized coaching for a period of 4 months and addresses self-management skills, social skills, and substance use resistance skills. This study examined sociodemographic and other predictors of program participation and program use. Methods: A total of 476 adolescents in 28 secondary and upper secondary school classes in the German-speaking part of Switzerland were proactively invited for participation in the SmartCoach program. Using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), we examined predictors of both program participation and program use at the individual and school class levels. Results: In total, 315 (66.2%) of the present 476 adolescents gave their active consent and provided the necessary information to be included in the program. None of the individual sociodemographic characteristics significantly predicted program participation, however, the participation rate was significantly higher in upper secondary school classes (84%) than secondary school classes (59%). The mean number of interactions with the program was 15.9, i.e., participants took part in almost half of the 34 possible interactions with the SmartCoach program. None of the baseline characteristics on the level of the school class significantly predicted program use. On the level of the individual, the univariate models showed that, compared to the reference category of 14-year-old students, program use was significantly lower for students who were 16 or older. Furthermore, participants with a migration background or an origin from a non-German-speaking country showed significantly lower program use. Finally, students with a medium level of perceived stress showed higher program use compared to those with a low level of stress. Within the final multivariate model for program use, only the variable “origin from a non-German-speaking country” remained significant. Conclusions: SmartCoach is an attractive offer for young people, in which two out of three young people who are invited in the classroom to participate do so. Among the program participants, the use of the program is acceptable, with an average of almost half of the content being worked on. There is potential for improvement in terms of recruitment, especially in school classes with a lower level of education. The most important starting point for improving program use lies in taking greater account of needs and wishes of students with non-German-speaking countries of origin. Full article