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Smart phone usage and addiction among dental students in Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional study

  • Elluru Venkatesh EMAIL logo , Mohammad Yousef Al Jemal and Abdullah Saleh Al Samani
Published/Copyright: April 6, 2017
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 31 Issue 1

Abstract

Purpose

The main aim of this research is to explore measures of smart phone usage, smart phone addiction, and their associations with demographic and health behavior-related variables among dental students in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A Cross sectional study involving sample of 205 dental students from Qaseem Private College were surveyed for smart phone use and addiction using the short version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale for Adolescents (SAS-SV).

Results

Smart phone addiction was seen in 136 (71.9%) of the 189 students. The findings from our study revealed that high stress levels, low physical activity, higher body mass index (BMI), longer duration of smart phone usage, higher frequency of usage, shorter time period until first smart phone use in the morning and social networking sites (SNS) were associated significantly with the smart phone addiction.

Conclusion

The current research gives the information about the extent of smart phone over usage and addiction among the dental students in Saudi Arabia with indication of the predictors of addiction and the need for further research in the area with comprehensible interpretation to spread the awareness of the smart phone addiction.

Keywords: smart phone; smart phone addiction; SAS-SV

References

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Received: 2016-10-30
Accepted: 2016-12-27
Published Online: 2017-04-06

©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2016-0133
Keywords for this article
smart phone; smart phone addiction; SAS-SV

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editorial
  2. Infectious mononucleosis: be aware of its lethality!
  3. Original Articles
  4. Is there a link between self-perceived stress and physical activity levels in Scottish adolescents?
  5. Does verruca vulgaris affect social anxiety and self-esteem in adolescents?
  6. Smart phone usage and addiction among dental students in Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional study
  7. Review
  8. Health policy making for street children: challenges and strategies
  9. Original Articles
  10. Menarche as a predictor of risk-taking behavior in a sample of Hungarian adolescent girls
  11. Level of Internet use among Greek adolescents with type 1 diabetes
  12. Clinical outcomes of an inpatient pediatric obesity treatment program in the USA
  13. Obesity prevalence and contributing factors among adolescents in secondary schools in Pemagatshel district, Bhutan
  14. Contraception usage among young adult men of a Nigerian university
  15. Monitoring screen use: a qualitative exploration of family strategies in Swiss homes
  16. Proposed model for the cultural adaptation of an Internet-based depression prevention intervention (CATCH-IT) for Arab adolescents
  17. Physical fitness and obesity levels during an academic year followed by summer holidays: an issue of insufficient time for physical activity
  18. Differences in physical activity, eating habits and risk of obesity among Kuwaiti adolescent boys and girls: a population-based study
  19. Cardiac anomalies and associated comorbidities in a large adolescent population
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