Kiara Ramon-Lozano

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302-231

1 May 2024

Smartphone Dependence in College Students and Its Complex Relationship with Social and

Emotional Health: Cultivating Healthier Coping Mechanisms

Smartphone use permeates our society as a result of advances in the function and

portability of technology (Abuhamdah and Naser, Ercengiz, et al.). In 2019, over 3 billion people

used smartphones globally (Kuru and Çelenk 1). Scholars have investigated phone dependence

in college students and young adults since these groups experience high rates of phone

ownership and use (Liu, et al., Squires, et al.). Additionally, the transition to college life is a

stressor for many students because of higher expectations for independence, novel adult

responsibilities, and significant increases in academic rigor. Various cross-sectional studies

suggest that psychological distress and weak social relationships are associated with increased

smartphone dependence in college students, which can worsen students’ mental state (Ercengiz,

et al., Yang, et al., Mohamed, et al.). This paper argues that university students are vulnerable to

poor social and emotional health (SEH) and, thus, smartphone overuse. As a consequence,

stakeholders in student success must address this issue. K-12 institutions, parents, and

universities alike are responsible for encouraging healthier coping mechanisms that ease

emotional hardship and promote closer in-person social connections.

Smartphone Dependence: Causing and Caused By Psychological Distress

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Current literature illustrates the consistent presence of smartphone overuse and addiction

among university students from various nations (Abuhamdah and Naser, Mohamed, et al., Chen,

et al.). Due to the lack of longitudinal and quasi-experimental studies, researchers cannot yet

verify relationships between smartphone use and SEH. Nonetheless, cross-sectional studies have

identified instances of smartphone overuse tied to poor SEH (Ercengiz, et al., Squires, et al.,

Kuru and Çelenk). Abuhamdah and Naser’s survey study of 385 Jordanian university students

found that 56.7% of participants demonstrated smartphone dependence according to the

Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) (3-4). Moreover, 62.9% of the study’s

participants agreed that their phone use has “negatively affected” their “mental abilities” and

64.3% agreed that they overused their phone (Abuhamdah and Naser 3-4). These findings

demonstrate that students are not only overusing their phones, but they are also developing a

dependence on these devices. Using the 33-item Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), Mohamed,

et al. found that female Egyptian university students had an average score of 124.313 out of 192

on the SAS, which indicates a significant level of smartphone attachment among the sample

(3-4). In a study by Chen, et al. that administered the SAS-SV, 29.8% of 1,441 Chinese medical

university students exhibited smartphone addiction, with a rate of 29.3% in female students and

30.3% in male students (2-3). Chen, et al.’s findings indicate that students are susceptible to

smartphone overuse, regardless of gender. Other cross-sectional studies have determined that

smartphone dependence may be a result of a coping mechanism, which is further exacerbated by

phone overuse.

College students with high stress levels and poor emotion management are prone to

smartphone dependence, which potentially worsens their psychological state. As Ercengiz, et al.
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explain, college students who experience unease without their phones–termed

‘nomophobia’—also experience an inability to cope with unpredictability and a poor sense of

self (9-10). The scholars elaborate on their findings by stating how the demand-control-person

model demonstrates that “nomophobia causes stress and…can be facilitated by the presence of

uncertainty and lack of control” (Ercengiz, et al. 10). Throughout the semester, students must

balance deadlines for projects, presentations, and research papers in addition to exam

preparation. These are merely academic tasks. When extracurricular activities along with family

and work responsibilities are added to an academic load, students often find themselves

overwhelmed and in need of a break. Ercengiz, et al.’s findings suggest that increases in

psychological and emotional instability lead to smartphone dependence, thus aggravating one’s

distress level.

Another set of scholars conducted a cross-sectional survey of 204 undergraduates to

analyze how smartphone use relates to one’s ability to regulate internal and external emotional

responses (Squires, et al. 1289-90). Squires, et al. furthered upon Billieux’s impulse pathway

model that elucidates the relationship between stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms;

emotional instability; and the “compensatory” overuse of smartphones (1293-4). Using their

data, Kardefelt-Winther’s compensatory internet use theory (CIUT), and Brand, et al.’s Internet

Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, Squires, et al. identified a direct

relationship between symptoms of emotional distress and SAS-SV scores that is clarified by

respective increases in emotion dysregulation (1292-4). The scholars above agree that

smartphone overuse is a “maladaptive emotion regulation attempt” (Squires, et al. 1293-4). Thus,
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heightened stress levels and superficial contentment associated with phone overuse suggest that

students might keep using their phones to placate their emotions.

Research conducted by Kuru and Çelenk agrees that students who exhibited higher levels

of anxiety and depression also demonstrated more smartphone attachment due to mental rigidity

(162). In accordance with the CIUT and Billieux’s impulse pathway, Kuru and Çelenk’s study

suggests that the more mental rigidity a student exhibits, the more likely they are to use their

phone in excess to avoid negative emotions–such as anxiety and depression symptoms (Squires,

et al. 1293-4, 162). In other words, a cyclical relationship exists between mental health and

smartphone attachment. If stakeholders take steps toward reducing such emotional avoidance

strategies, college students can simultaneously inhibit their inclination to use their phones and

improve their emotional state.

Inverse Relationship between Social Health and Smartphone Dependence

Another factor influencing smartphone overuse in college students is social relationships.

Mohamed, et al. determined that 21.85% of female college students were moderately socially

anxious and 27.23% had “severe” or “very severe” social anxiety according to the Social Phobia

Inventory (SPIN) (3-4). The researchers found that increases in social anxiety is correlated with

increases in phone dependence (Mohamed, et al. 7). According to a study by Hur, et al., social

anxiety in young adults inhibits one’s ability to initiate and nurture meaningful interpersonal

connections (1994). Mohamed, et al. and Hur, et al.’s findings are consistent with Yang, et al.’s

proposed relationship between SEH and phone attachment. In Yang, et al.’s investigation,

Chinese undergraduates with strong support systems experienced fewer depression symptoms as

a result of reduced phone dependence; the opposite was true for those with weak support systems
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(5-6). The I-PACE model validates Yang, et al.’s findings by postulating that college students

experience a false sense of satisfaction where phone overuse “[fulfills] needs not met by the

outside world” (Squires, et al. 1294). Supporting this idea, Yang, et al. state that connections

formed through smartphones are inferior to in-person bonds (2). These studies demonstrate that

college students’ smartphone overuse is a futile effort to compensate for unfulfilled SEH needs

that must be addressed.

Researchers evaluating correlations between smartphone dependence and SEH are

cautious to definitively affirm these relationships because of limitations associated with data

collection and experimental design. Current studies are primarily limited by self-report data

collection methods (Kuru and Çelenk, Mohamed, et al.). Although surveys help scholars collect

data quickly and efficiently, this technique is subject to common method bias. As Yang, et al.

explain, they ran a “common method bias test” to ensure that their data collection did not

significantly undermine their results (5). Kuru and Çelenk and Squires, et al. account for this bias

by employing bootstrap mediation analyses to find an acceptable margin of error (194). Scholars

also use “Cronbach’s alpha” to ensure the reliability of the surveys they administer (Abuhamdah

and Naser 3, Chen, et al. 2-3). The above precautions demonstrate how researchers minimize

biases and errors associated with their data collection methods.

Scholars also recognize that their experimental design limits their ability to verify

hypothesized mediating and moderating relationships between smartphone dependence and SEH.

For instance, Ercengiz, et al. state that conducting longitudinal and quasi-experimental studies

can solidify the direction and strength of relationships between smartphone overuse,

psychological distress, and emotional dysregulation (11). Kuru and Çelenk have a similar
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sentiment, stating how their cross-sectional study design “limit[s] the interpretation of…results”

(163). However, cross-sectional studies that observe the proportion of college students

experiencing smartphone overuse and poor SEH–such as those by Chen, et al. and Mohamed, et

al.–accurately depict the need to provide alternative coping mechanisms to smartphone overuse.

Though researchers must improve their data collection methods and diversify their experimental

design, there is a greater need to address the mental health risks associated with college students’

smartphone dependence, psychological distress, and poor social connections.

Proposed Alternative Coping Strategies for Stressed College Students

The prominence of smartphone dependence and poor SEH in university students justifies

why promoting alternative coping mechanisms to phone overuse is a crucial step that

stakeholders must take. Those involved in students’ personal and educational lives before college

should prevent smartphones from becoming emotional pacifiers and insufficient sources of social

support by exposing students to healthier, more effective outlets. For instance, primary and

secondary schools and parents can implement phone-free downtime where students engage in

purposeful activities such as meditation, exercise, and art. K-12 educational institutions can also

encourage face-to-face, device-free interactions with peers during the school day. Parents can

reinforce the importance of social connection and time away from phones by limiting students’

phone use in social settings and regulating phone use to prevent dependence. By adopting these

simple changes, parents and K-12 schools can cultivate students’ capacity to properly cope with

emotional distress and build meaningful social relationships in the future.

Similarly, universities are responsible for fostering effective coping strategies throughout

students’ college years. Given the variety among institutions across the globe, colleges must
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tailor coping strategy opportunities to students’ campus life. An example is the differences in

social connection opportunities between residential and commuter universities. In residential

universities, it is feasible for students to make profound, in-person relationships with others

outside of academic settings. At commuter schools, however, students may feel uncomfortable

exchanging life experiences and daily stressors in friendships that are primarily academic.

Commuter universities can facilitate SEH by building a sense of connection among students

through student organizations and school events. For example, universities can host monthly

phone-free mixers for students to build in-person relationships with others who have common

interests. Socially anxious university students may be hesitant to create connections with others

in this manner, so student organizations can host small-scale meetings to encourage these

individuals to build connections without undue stress.

In addition to providing opportunities for students to socialize, college campuses and

organizations should aim to improve college students’ psychological health. A 2x2 mixed

factorial survey study divided students into an experimental group that experienced a cognitive

behavioral therapy (CBT) mindfulness practice and a control group that listened to neutral news

audios to determine shifts in participants’ mindsets before and after treatment (Liu, et al. 2, 4-5).

Liu, et al. found that experimental group participants experienced lower phone dependence and

higher conscious awareness and self-discipline after their CBT session, where higher differences

between initial and final self-discipline were correlated with decreases in phone dependence

(Liu, et al. 6-7). Hence, universities can offer mindfulness sessions as an alternative coping

strategy to phone use and mental health enhancer. College campuses can also provide safe spaces

for students to transparently address their emotional health by inviting mental health advocates
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as guest speakers and creating individual and group counseling sessions. Providing the

opportunities discussed above will not only prevent students from maladaptively using their

phones to cope with stressors, but it will also directly promote students’ psychological health.

Thus, stakeholders must be actively involved in fostering healthy coping skills for the betterment

of college students’ SEH.

Conclusion

As this paper has demonstrated, smartphone overuse is a prominent, maladaptive coping

strategy in college students. Therefore, stakeholders in student success must actively encourage

healthy coping mechanisms that alleviate psychological stressors both before and during college.

Despite its limitations, current literature provides a foundation for future research about the

relationships between college students’ phone dependence and SEH. Until this research need is

met, stakeholders must provide alternatives to compensatory smartphone use to improve

students’ psychological health and social connections.

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Works Cited

Abuhamdah, Sawsan M. A., and Abdallah Y. Naser. “Smartphone Addiction and Its Mental

Health Risks among University Students in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study.” BMC

Psychiatry, vol. 23, no. 812, 2023, pp. 1-9, Academic Search Complete,

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05322-6.

Chen, Baifeng, et al. “Gender Differences in Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction: A

Cross-Sectional Study among Medical College Students.” BMC Psychiatry, vol. 17, no.

341, 2017, pp. 1–9. Academic Search Complete,

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1503-z.

Ercengiz, Mustafa, et al. “Differentiation of Self, Emotion Management Skills, and Nomophobia

among Smartphone Users: the Mediating and Moderating Roles of Intolerance of

Uncertainty.” The Social Science Journal, 2020, pp. 1–15. Taylor & Francis Online,

https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1833148.

Hur, Juyoen, et al. “Social Context and the Real-World Consequences of Social Anxiety.”

Journal of Psychological Medicine, vol. 50, no. 12, 2020, pp. 1989-2000. National

Library of Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719002022.

Kuru, Tacettin, and Sinem Çelenk. “The Relationship among Anxiety, Depression, and

Problematic Smartphone Use in University Students: The Mediating Effect of

Psychological Inflexibility.” Alpha Psychiatry, vol. 22, no. 3, 2021, pp 159-164.

Academic Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.5455/apd.136695.

Liu, Fengbo, et al. “Effectiveness of Brief Mindfulness Intervention for College Students’

Problematic Smartphone Use: The Mediating Role of Self-Control.” PLoS ONE, vol. 17,
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no. 12, 2022, pp. 1-13. Academic Search Complete,

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279621.

Mohamed, Zainab K., et al. “Smartphone Addiction and Its Relation to Social Phobia in Female

University Students.” Middle East Current Psychiatry, vol. 30, no. 74, 2023, pp. 1–10.

Academic Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-023-00327-z.

Squires, Lauren R., et al. “Psychological Distress, Emotion Dysregulation, and Coping

Behaviour: a Theoretical Perspective of Problematic Smartphone Use.” International

Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, vol. 19, no. 4, 2021, pp. 1284–1299. Academic

Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00224-0.

Yang, Xiaofan, et al. “Perceived Social Support, Depressive Symptoms, Self-Compassion, and

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https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090769.