Prevalence and correlates of problematic smartphone use in a large random sample of Chinese undergraduates
Long J, Liu TQ, Liao YH, Qi C, He HY, Chen SB, Billieux J
BMC psychiatry · 207 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- University or hospital
- Central South University
- Government
- Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province
- Government
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- University or hospital
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University
- Grants
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81371465); Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2015JJ2180)
Based on 5 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2016-11-17 · BMC Psychiatry · vol. 16 · issue 1 · p. 408
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 399 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 79.0× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 87 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies · Child Development and Digital Technology
- Keywords
- smartphone addiction, prevalence, risk factors, undergraduate students, stress and coping theory, perceived stress, perfectionism, parental expectations, emotional symptoms, humanities majors, household income, Chinese students
- MeSH
- humans, prevalence, risk factors, students, adult, china, female, male, young adult, smartphone, surveys and questionnaires, problem behavior, asian people
7 authors
From CN, BE, US
- Jiang LongCentral South University; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; UCLouvain; KU Leuven
- Tieqiao Liu · correspondingCentral South University; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
- Yanhui LiaoCentral South University; University of California System; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
- Chang QiCentral South University; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
- Haoyu HeCentral South University; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
- Shubao ChenCentral South University; Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
Abstract
Background
Smartphones are becoming a daily necessity for most undergraduates in Mainland China. Because the present scenario of problematic smartphone use (PSU) is largely unexplored, in the current study we aimed to estimate the prevalence of PSU and to screen suitable predictors for PSU among Chinese undergraduates in the framework of the stress-coping theory.
Methods
A sample of 1062 undergraduate smartphone users was recruited by means of the stratified cluster random sampling strategy between April and May 2015. The Problematic Cellular Phone Use Questionnaire was used to identify PSU. We evaluated five candidate risk factors for PSU by using logistic regression analysis while controlling for demographic characteristics and specific features of smartphone use.
Results
The prevalence of PSU among Chinese undergraduates was estimated to be 21.3%. The risk factors for PSU were majoring in the humanities, high monthly income from the family (≥1500 RMB), serious emotional symptoms, high perceived stress, and perfectionism-related factors (high doubts about actions, high parental expectations).
Conclusions
PSU among undergraduates appears to be ubiquitous and thus constitutes a public health issue in Mainland China. Although further longitudinal studies are required to test whether PSU is a transient phenomenon or a chronic and progressive condition, our study successfully identified socio-demographic and psychological risk factors for PSU. These results, obtained from a random and thus representative sample of undergraduates, opens up new avenues in terms of prevention and regulation policies.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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