Smartphone dependency and addiction in university students

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to assess university student dependency and addiction to smartphones by applying a smartphone addiction scale (SAS). The methodology applied is deductive, descriptive, and uses a non-experimental cross-sectional field design. A proportional stratified sampling is applied to a sample of 303 university students. The means for the three SAS components are calculated. In component 1, the general mean is equal to 3.87. This suggests that there is dependency and addiction in the sample surveyed. The results show greater addiction in females than in males. The most related conditions are anxiety, depression, stress, and sleep disorders. These elements generate student dependency and addiction to smartphones. It is concluded that there is dependency and addiction to smartphones by university students.