Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: January | Volume: 8 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 163-171
Relationship between Smartphone Addiction with Anxiety and Depression among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia
Norbaidurah Ithnain1, Shazli Ezzat Ghazali2, Norrafizah Jaafar1
1Health Education Officer, Institute for Health Behavioural Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Jalan Rumah Sakit, 50590 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
2Lecturer of Health Psychology Programme. Faculty of Health Sciences, The National University of Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Corresponding Author: Norbaidurah Ithnain
ABSTRACT
Recently, smartphone addiction has become a public health concern because it leads to poor mental health; anxiety and depression among university students around the world. Therefore, the objective of the study was to identify the relationship between smartphone addiction with anxiety and depression among undergraduate students in one of a local university in Malaysia on September 2016. Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-M), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI-M) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-M) were used as a data collection tool. Analysis of the data was done using IBM SPSS software version 21.0. A total of 369 students (299 female and 70 male; mean age=19.3±0.98) participated in this study. Descriptive analysis results showed scores of smartphone addiction, anxiety and depression students were 102.52±7.21, 10.15±8.08 and 7.96±6.21. The inferential analysis found a statistically significant positive relationship between smartphone addiction with anxiety and depression (p<0.001). Smartphone addiction was found as predictor to anxiety (B=0.052, t=4.469, p<0.001) and depression (B=0.091, t=6.067, p<0.001) respectively. The findings of this study showed university students in Malaysia were inclined towards becoming addicted to smartphone and were exposed to anxiety and depression. Implementation of health education programs and interventions that are appropriate to deal with addiction and improve mental well-being can empower students to practice healthy behaviors.
Key words: Smartphone addiction, anxiety, depression, undergraduate students, Malaysia