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Cited by 572Impact of Technology on AdolescentsSexuality, Behavior, and TechnologyGender and Technology in Education

Gender differences in factors associated with smartphone addiction: a cross-sectional study among medical college students

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Chen, Baifeng, Liu, Fei, Ding, Shushu, Ying, Xia, Wang, Lele, Wen, Yufeng·2017·BMC Psychiatry
DOI 10.1186/s12888-017-1503-zPMC PMC5634822
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Smartphones are becoming increasingly indispensable in everyday life for most undergraduates in China, and this has been associated with problematic use or addiction. The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction and the associated factors in male and female undergraduates. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 and included 1441 undergraduate students at Wannan Medical College, China. The Smartphone Addiction Scale short version (SAS-SV) was used to assess smartphone addiction among the students, using accepted cut-offs. Participants' demographic, smartphone usage, and psycho-behavioral data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to seek associations between smartphone addiction and independent variables among the males and females, separately. RESULTS: The prevalence of smartphone addiction among participants was 29.8% (30.3% in males and 29.3% in females). Factors associated with smartphone addiction in male students were use of game apps, anxiety, and poor sleep quality. Significant factors for female undergraduates were use of multimedia applications, use of social networking services, depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone addiction was common among the medical college students investigated. This study identified associations between smartphone usage, psycho-behavioral factors, and smartphone addiction, and the associations differed between males and females. These results suggest the need for interventions to reduce smartphone addiction among undergraduate students.

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  • Some studies suggest that individuals who use their smartphones as a pastime without any productive interest are more likely susceptible to PSU.

    “Some studies suggest that individuals who use their smartphones as a pastime without any productive interest are more likely susceptible to PSU (Chen, Liu, et al., 2017;aZhang et al., 2014).”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Chen, Liu, et al., 2017

    The Results (Multivariate logistic analysis; page unavailable) associate smartphone gaming with addiction among male medical students and multimedia and social-networking applications with addiction among female medical students. This supports a link between some recreational uses and problematic smartphone use, but the paper does not assess whether users lacked any productive interest, and its findings do not establish the claim for individuals generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Researchers have raised concerns about gender's moderating effects since gender differences usually are related to culture.

    “researchers have raised concerns about gender's moderating effects since gender differences usually are related to culture (Chen, Liu, et al., 2017).”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Chen, Liu, et al., 2017

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports gender differences in factors associated with smartphone addiction and calls for further study of inconsistent findings across studies. It does not say that researchers raised concerns about gender’s moderating effects or that gender differences are usually related to culture; searches for cultural differences and moderation found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Reviewed studies suggested information-enhancing strategies including direct warnings, documentaries and public campaigns, and educational programs and guidelines for young children and adolescents.

    “Several information-enhancing strategies were suggested by the reviewed studies: direct warnings similar to those on cigarette packages (Barnes et al., 2019), documentaries and public campaigns emphasizing the severity and risk of PSU”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Chen, Liu, et al., 2017

    The Conclusions (page unavailable) recommend targeted, multi-component prevention and intervention strategies for smartphone addiction among medical college students. The paper does not specify direct warnings, documentaries, public campaigns, or educational programs and guidelines for children and adolescents; those details are not supported by this source. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • PSU was positively associated with monthly cost of living, family income, and higher economic status.

    “PSU was also positively associated with monthly cost of living [28], family income [36], and a higher economic status [42].”

    From Prevalence of problematic smartphone usage and associated mental health outcomes amongst children and young people: a systematic review, meta-analysis and GRADE of the evidence (2019) · cites this paper as [28]

    Only the monthly-cost-of-living portion is attributed to this source; the other two factors have separate citations. In the Results (univariate analysis, Table 2; page unavailable), higher monthly living costs were positively associated with smartphone addiction among female medical students, but the association was not statistically significant among males. Monthly cost was not identified as a significant factor in the multivariate results, so the unqualified claim overstates the finding. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • PSU in males was correlated with use of media applications and games, while in females it was correlated with communication and social networking applications.

    “PSU in males was correlated with use of media applications and games, while in females it was correlated with communication and social networking applications [28].”

    From Prevalence of problematic smartphone usage and associated mental health outcomes amongst children and young people: a systematic review, meta-analysis and GRADE of the evidence (2019) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Results (multivariate logistic analysis; page not provided) associate smartphone addiction with gaming in males and with social networking and multimedia applications in females. The claim assigns media applications to males instead, and the Results (univariate analysis; page not provided) show that phone calls/text messages—the measured communication function—were negatively associated with smartphone addiction in females. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chen, B., Liu, F., Ding, S., Ying, X., Wang, L., & Wen, Y.
Affiliations
Wannan Medical College (CN)
Corresponding author
Wen, Yufeng
ORCID
Venue
BMC Psychiatry
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-10-10
Volume
17
Issue
1
Pages
341-341
ISSN
1471-244X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12888-017-1503-z
PMC
PMC5634822
OpenAlex
W2763589533
Cited by
572
References
13
Citations by year
2026: 61 · 2025: 64 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 84 · 2022: 85 · 2021: 89 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 14
FWCI
83.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Technology in Education
Keywords
smartphone addiction, gender differences, medical students, undergraduate students, prevalence, social networking services, multimedia applications, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, Smartphone Addiction Scale
MeSH terms
Smartphone, Anxiety, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Students, Medical, Prevalence, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult

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