THE EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS INTERVENTION OF SMARTPHONE DEPENDENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Back to Page Authors: Myung Soon Kwon, Jeong Soon Yu

Keywords: addictive, personal autonomy, smartphone, universities

Abstract: Background: Smartphones, which are easy to access the Internet and have various applications, have exceeded 60% of the global penetration rate, and the rapid growth of young people aged 18 to 34 needs to be noted. In Korea, 99% of university students have smartphones, of which 25.9% reported that there is a risk of smartphone dependence. This is the biggest increase compared to other age groups and is increasing every year. This suggests that smartphones are exposed to negative as well as positive effects. In particular, college freshmen can use smartphones freely from the regulations of adults at the same time as entering the university. This can lead to excessive use of smartphones, resulting in a decrease in academic achievement, stress, and difficulty in adapting to college life. Therefore, it is important to use smartphones correctly from the beginning of admission for successful college life that can be faithful to various interpersonal relationships and study and lay the foundation for a career. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of a continuous intervention on smartphone dependence level, basic psychological needs, self-regulation ability, adaptation to college life, and stress of University students by applying Smartphone Dependence Prevention Program (SDPP) and Smartphone Dependence Prevention Residential Program (SDPRP) based on self-determination theory. Methods: As the pretest-posttest design, a non-equivalent control group was used for the study. The participants consisted of 78 freshmen (Experimental group 1 n=26, Experimental group 2 n=23, Control group n=29) of University. SDPP applied to the Experimental group 1 was conducted twice a week, 8 times in total, and was conducted for 90 minutes per session. We also applied SDPP and SDPRP (2 nights and 3 days) to Experimental group 2; SDPRP was conducted in an environment where smartphone communication was limited. The program effect was measured by smartphone dependence level, basic psychological needs, self-regulation ability, the adaptation to college life, and stress. Data were measured at the baseline (before intervention), post-intervention, first follow-up (1st month) and the second follow-up (3rd month), and then its analysis was used by x2-test, Fisher's exact test, and independent-sample t-test. To confirm the effect of the program, covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was applied by using entering genders that showed differences between groups. Adjusted means and the differences of the change amount according to the assessment time were calculated; we used the Scheffé test for multiplicity for the three pairwise comparisons. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference of levels in the smartphone dependence at 1 month (p=.009) for Experimental group 1 and at right after the intervention (p=.036), 1 month (p=.004) and 3 months (p=.003) for Experimental group 2 compared with those of control group. In sub-factors, it showed significant difference of salience at right after the intervention (p=.037), at 1-month (p=.004) and at 3-months (p=.002) for Experimental group 2 compared with those of Control group. And it showed that there was a significant difference of serious consequences at 1-month (p=.018) for Experimental group 1 and the and at 1-month (p=.002), at 3-months (p=.002) for Experimental group 2 compared with those of Control group. In other words, the Experimental group 1 significantly decreased compared to the Control group at 1-month, and the Experimental group 2 significantly decreased smartphone dependence levels compared to their Control group at all time-points. Interestingly, Experimental group 2 consistently was decreased by 3 months after the intervention. In this study, basic psychological needs showed a significant difference from the control group in both Experimental group 1 (p=.017) and Experimental group 2 (p=.043). In sub-factors, it showed a significant difference of competence at right after the intervention (p=.026), at 1-month (p=.003) for Experimental group 1 compared with those of the Control group. And it showed a significant difference of relatedness at right after the intervention for Experimental group 1 (p=.001) and Experimental group 2 (p=.012) compared with those of the control group. Conclusion: In this study, the smartphone dependence prevention program based on self-determination theory improved the basic psychological needs and consequently reduced the dependency on smartphones. In particular, the Experimental group 2 who participated in SDPP and SDPRP was verified to have a continuous effect until 3 months after the intervention. Therefore, it is suggested that SDPP and SDPRP should be used together to smartphone dependence prevention of University students.