Assessing the Effects of Smartphone Use among University Students in Saudi Arabia

<p dir="ltr"><b>Background:</b> Smartphone overuse and addiction is a growing concern worldwide. However, there are limited studies about smartphone addiction and its impacts among university students in Saudi Arabia. This mixed method study aims to fill this gap by exploring the prevalence, determinants, and effects of smartphone use among undergraduate students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Method:</b> Study was conducted from May 2019 and February 2021. Quantitative data was collected using both online and hard copy surveys and qualitative data was collected using semi-structure interviews.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Findings:</b> A total of 545 undergraduate students, mostly females, aged ≤ 21 years old and lived with a large family size, completed the quantitative survey. More than half owned a smartphone 5-8 years and majority used their smartphone on average 6-11 hours per day for social networking (82.6%), entertainment (66.2%) and web surfing (59.6%). Most of the participants were smartphone addicted (67.0%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age  21, not gainfully employed, small family size, and high family income were the main significant socio-demographic predictors of smartphone addiction. Regression analyses showed that process (OR=1.08), social (OR=1.10) and compulsive usage of the smartphone (OR= 1.31), positive attitudes towards the smartphone (OR= 1.07), and perceived friend support (OR= 0.92) were the main predictors of smartphone addiction. Smartphone addicted participants were more likely to show poor academic performance, be physically inactive, report poor sleep, be overweight/obese; endure pain in the shoulder (39.2%), eyes (62.2%), and neck (67.7%), and suffer a serious mental illness (30.7%). Perceived susceptibility to smartphone addiction (OR= 0.47); perceived severity of smartphone addiction (OR=0.75); self-efficacy (OR=0.76); perceived benefits of reducing smartphone use (OR=0.80); and cues to action to reduce smartphone use (OR=0.82) were negatively correlated with smartphone addiction. Whereas, perceived barriers to reducing smartphone use (OR=1.20) was positively associated with smartphone addiction.</p><p dir="ltr">The qualitative data comprising 33 participants (students and staff) showed that personal factors (having free-time and low self-confidence); smartphone factors (reasonable price, attractive advertisements (ads) and engaging smartphone Apps); and social factors (social pressure and fear of losing a connection) were the potential factors leading to smartphone overuse from the participants’ perspective.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusion:</b> Our findings suggested that awareness campaigns about smartphone overuse, promoting family and social events, encouraging physical activities and limiting internet use can reduce smartphone usage among university students. This finding has significant implication for decision makers.</p>