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. 2021 Jun 10;21(1):302.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03285-0.

Smartphone addiction and associated factors among postgraduate students in an Arabic sample: a cross-sectional study

Asem A Alageel  1 , Rayyan A Alyahya  2   3 , Yasser A Bahatheq  2 , Norah A Alzunaydi  3 , Raed A Alghamdi  2 , Nader M Alrahili  4 , Roger S McIntyre  5 , Michelle Iacobucci  5
Affiliations

Smartphone addiction and associated factors among postgraduate students in an Arabic sample: a cross-sectional study

Asem A Alageel et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Smartphone addiction, as with other behavioral addictions, is associated with social, physical, and mental health issues. In this article, we investigated the prevalence of smartphone addiction among postgraduate students and evaluated its correlation with social demographics, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and nicotine dependence.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction among Middle Eastern postgraduate students, determine the factors associated with smartphone addiction, and estimate the incidence rate of major depressive disorder (MDD), ADHD, insomnia, and nicotine addiction among postgraduate students with smartphone addiction.

Methods: As part of a cross-sectional online survey, participants were given a self-questionnaire divided into six sections: Socio-demographics, Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) for Depression, Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), the Fagerström Test for Cigarette Dependence Questionnaire (FTCd), and the adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1).

Results: Of the 506 patients, 51.0% of the participants demonstrated smartphone addiction. A significant association was also observed between extensive smartphone use and MDD (P = 0.001). Of the smokers in this study, 41.5% were addicted to smartphones (P = 0.039). Smartphone addicts had approximately two times the chance of having insomnia (OR = 2.113) (P = 0.013). In addition, they showcased more ADHD symptoms (OR = 2.712) (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: We found a positive association among insomnia, depression, adult ADHD, and smartphone addiction, which confirms the findings reported in the previous studies. Therefore, we encourage the scientific community to further study the impacts of smartphone addiction on the mental health of postgraduate students.

Keywords: ADHD; Depression; Insomnia; Postgraduate; Smartphone; Smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

In accordance with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki guidelines and the Vancouver protocol, this study was approved by the IRB of IMSIU in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Informed consent was obtained from all participants through a statement of agreement at the beginning of each questionnaire. Protection of the privacy of research subjects as well as confidentiality of their personal information was ensured. Each subject was adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, institutional affiliations of the researcher, the anticipated benefits and potential risks of the study, the discomfort it may entail, post-study provisions, and all other relevant aspects of the study, in accordance with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki guidelines and the Vancouver protocol.

Dr. McIntyre reports grants from Stanley Medical Research Institute, and from CIHR/GACD/Chinese National Natural Research Foundation, as well as relationships from Lundbeck, Janssen, Shire, Purdue, Pfizer, Otsuka, Allergan, Takeda, Neurocrine, Sunovion, and Minerva, which may include consultations or speaker fees outside of the submitted work.

All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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