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 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2017  |  Volume : 6  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 113-117

Mobile phone use and excess use among junior college students: A cross-sectional study


Department of Community Medicine, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Sangli, Maharashtra, India

Date of Web Publication18-May-2017

Correspondence Address:
Yugantara Ramesh Kadam
Department of Community Medicine, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Sangli, Maharashtra
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/ijhas.IJHAS_192_15

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  Abstract 

CONTEXT: In this part of Maharashtra, usually children get their first mobile phone after completing their schooling. Two years of education in junior college are crucial in everyone's life as career is decided during this phase of life. Till date, very few studies have been conducted in India about the pattern of mobile use. This study was planned with a view to identifying a pattern of the use and overuse of mobile phone by junior college students.
SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Study design: Cross-sectional. Study-area: Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad Corporation area. Study-population: Junior college students from study area. Study subjects: 11th standard junior college students. Sample size and sampling techniques: Six hundred and nineteen, double cluster. Study tool: Pretested Questionnaire. Study duration: Six months.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Percentages, prevalence, Chi-square test.
RESULTS: Of 619 students, 429 (68.98%) had mobile. Significantly, high number of male students (60.13%) had mobile sets than females (39.86%). Mobiles were used commonly for calling, messaging, Internet, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Internet, chatting, Facebook, and WhatsApp use was significantly common in boys. Two-thirds of the students used mobile phones for playing games. Twenty-one percent students used mobile phones in the classroom. Totally 37.3% students felt restless when they do not have their mobile phones with them. There were 33.33% students having high score indicating excess use of mobile and it was significantly associated with age and stream of education.
CONCLUSIONS: Excess use of mobile phones (18–33 score) was seen in one-third of students, and it was significantly associated with age and stream of education. More than one-third students reported restlessness in the absence of mobile phones. Majority students felt there schooling, sleep, and daily chores is getting hampered by mobile phone use. Therefore, monitoring of adolescents mobile phone use by parents is required to identify any deviation from normal judicious use.

Keywords: Adolescents mobile phone use, mobile excess use, mobile phone use


How to cite this article:
Naik TD, Kadam YR, Patil SA, Gore AD. Mobile phone use and excess use among junior college students: A cross-sectional study. Int J Health Allied Sci 2017;6:113-7

How to cite this URL:
Naik TD, Kadam YR, Patil SA, Gore AD. Mobile phone use and excess use among junior college students: A cross-sectional study. Int J Health Allied Sci [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 29];6:113-7. Available from: https://www.ijhas.in/text.asp?2017/6/2/113/206424


  Introduction Top


A mobile phone is a device that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. Mobile phones came to India in the mid-1990s and Government's new policy in January 2000 lowered cost and their promotion as fashionable technology led to a massive increase in mobile phone users, especially among the younger population.[1],[2]

This increase was most significant in adolescents and is a worldwide phenomenon.[3]

Mobile phone with its multiple uses is a necessity of every person for communicating with family and friends, not only a personal entertainment device for listening to music, downloading ringtones or wallpapers, playing mobile games, and receiving updates but also for other services such as text messaging, WhatsApp, MMS, E-mail, Internet access, and photography.

Easy access and overuse of mobile phones by students has induced sedentary behavior responsible for negative health consequences along with havoc in academic and social life.[4]

In this part of Maharashtra, most children possess their first mobile when they step from school into junior college which is the most crucial period of their career decision. Since research on mobile phone usage by adolescents in this part of India is limited, this study was aimed to identify the pattern of mobile phone by Junior college students.


  Methods Top


A cross-sectional study included willing students of 11th standard of a randomly selected junior college from Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad Corporation area. The sample size was calculated from a pilot study conducted to determine the percentage of overuse of mobile phones by junior college students. By considering, α = 1%, error = 10%, and percentage of overuse of mobile 52.51, calculated sample size was 602. Data of pilot study are not included in the final study. Two-stage cluster random sampling (double cluster) method was used as a sampling technique.

Study tool

Pilot study was conducted for junior college students of another college. Study tool, which is a questionnaire developed with the help of the existing literature, was assessed by experts for the content validity. Reliability of 11-point scale for assessing mobile phone use was 0.878 as estimated using Cronbach's alpha. The questionnaire was finalized with appropriate changes on the basis of the pilot study.

The first section of the study questionnaire included items on the sociodemographic factors such as age and sex.

The second section of questionnaire included 11-point scale of graded responses regarding mobile use was selected from the published studies with a maximum allotted score of 33. Three groups were formed on the basis of score: Low-score group (normal use) with 0–9 score, medium-score group (overuse) 10–17 score, and high-score group (excess use) with 18–33 score.

After clearance from the Institutional Ethical Committee, a junior college with arts, commerce, and science stream was selected randomly complied with the required sample size. After seeking permission from the head of the institute for data collection, students of 11th standard from all three streams who were willing to participate were included in the study. Students who were unwilling to participate or wanted to withdraw before submission of the questionnaire were excluded from the study in the month of February 2014, with prior appointment, three visits were undertaken to collect data from 619 study subjects. After acquiring informed consent and conveying appropriate preinformation and instruction, questionnaire was distributed and filled inadequate privacy. The completed questionnaires were collected in a drop box.

Analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS-22. Percentages and Chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. The data from the pilot study as well as incomplete questionnaire were not included in the study.


  Results Top


Totally 619 students (females 272, 43.94% and males 347, 56.05%) participated in the study. Out of which total 429 (68.98%) were having a mobile. This included 258 (60.13%) males and 171 (39.86%) females. Significantly high number of male students had mobile sets than females (Z = 8.478, P = 0.004).

Further analysis was done only for students having mobile handsets (429). The range of age was 15–20 years, and median age was 16 with standard deviation (SD) 0.643. The majority of students were from nuclear family, for example, 264, 61.53%. Seventy-four (17.24%) students were single child (no siblings). Maximum students (308, 71.79%) belonged to science stream.

In spite of having handsets, 24 (5.6%) students do not use it, 15 (3.5%) use occasionally, 190 (44.3%) sometimes, and 46.6% (200) use it regularly. Students were using mobiles commonly for calling, messaging, Internet, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Internet, chatting, Facebook, and WhatsApp use was significantly common in boys. Use of mobile phone for making calls was more common in females, and the borderline association was present between sex and use of mobile for making calls. However, there was no significant difference in the use of mobile for text messaging between male and female students. There were only 12 (3%) students who were using Instagram [Table 1].
Table 1: Distribution of students according to sex and mobile applications use

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Totally 322 (75.1%) students were using mobile phones for playing games. There was no association between sex and use of mobile phones for playing game (Χ2 = 0.095, P = 0.758).

Nearly 5.6% students accepted that they use mobiles in the class always, 4.9% occasionally, 11% sometimes, and majority, that is, 78.6% do not use when in the class. There was no sex-wise difference for the use of mobile in class [Table 1].

Monthly expenditure on mobile use ranged from Rs. 10 to Rs. 600 with mean Rs. 88.92 and SD Rs. 92.15. A total of 160 (37.3%) students feel restless when they do not have their mobile with them.

Nearly 74.1% students check mobile frequently for texts and calls. More than half of the students (56.2%) were warned by parents for excessive mobile use. About 45.5% students feel that they were using mobile excessively [Table 2].
Table 2: Self-assessment of mobile phone use

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Total score ranged from 0 to 33. Forty-four (5.5%) students scored “0” and 2 (0.3%) scored “33.” There were 143 (33.33%) students having high score indicating excess use of mobile. Excess use was common in younger students (15–17 years), male gender, students from a joint family, students having siblings two, and more and arts stream. However, significant association was found only between score and stream of education. Borderline significance was present between score and age [Table 3].
Table 3: Association between pattern of use (score group) and sociodemographic factors

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  Discussion Top


Reduction in the cost of handsets, smaller size, and the prepaid card has contributed to the rapid adoption of mobile phones by young people.[5]

One of the most cited reasons that parents want their children to have a mobile is for safety, irrespective of the sex of the child.[5]

Various surveys worldwide have found high rates of mobile phone use among young people. In this study, 429 (68.98%) adolescent students had mobile. This level of reported ownership of handset varies with different studies. However, findings are similar with that of the study conducted on British adolescents between 11 and 18 years by Olatz et al. According to them, 64.6% students owned the device.[6]

While Madell and Muncer found 86% English adolescents owned mobile phones and it was significantly more common in girls.[7]

In this study, however, boys (258, 60.13%) owned mobile set significantly higher than girls (171, 39.86%). This fact either reflects gender bias or girls are less demanding than boys.

The most used applications were calling and text messaging. Similar findings were noted by Xavier et al. on Spanish teenagers and young students [8] and by Madell and Muncer on English adolescents.[7] Another most used application was gaming.

All the applications other than making calls were mostly and significantly used by boys. It was found that boys were using Internet more commonly. Similar finding was noted by Madell and Muncer and Srijampana et al.[7],[9] Applications that contribute most to “problematic Internet use” were chat applications, messengers, social networking applications, games, and blogs.[8] In the present study, it was found that use of mobile for Facebook and chatting is high.

Students using their mobile phones for text messaging and Internet surfing during class have become a common observation. In this study, 21% students had accepted this fact. The main issue for teachers is the disruption of classroom learning that can occur due to phone calls and texting. Schools and educational settings report that student's mobile phone use disrupts teaching and reduces student's attention in class.[5]

From the answers to the questions on mobile phone use, it is clear that 45%–75% students felt that their mobile phone use for at least one of its use, is excess always, sometimes or occasionally. The percentage of students spending valuable time on mobile phones when they are in their crucial years of life is much high.

In this study, nearly three-fourth of students check mobile frequently for texts or calls and more than one-third feel restless when they do not have their mobile with them. It appears or simulates withdrawal symptoms without mobile phone. Addiction like behavior to mobile phones is also a serious problem for an individual's social life and work.[10]

One-third students of the present study scored high score indicating the excess use of mobile, and it was significantly common in younger students (15–17 years) and arts stream of education. High scores were common in males, but the observed difference was not significant. However, some studies found a problematic use or excess use is more common in female gender, but the difference was not significant.[10],[11] The reason for this could be more boys than girls had their mobile phones. One study mentioned that problematic use was greater in youngest age group.[8]

Takao et al. studied the correlation between problematic mobile phone use and personality traits reported in various addiction literature. He found high self-monitoring, high approval motivation, and high levels of anxiety and depression are associated with inappropriate mobile phone use and addictive internet use.[11] A study on young adults by Thomee et al. found a high frequency of mobile phone use at baseline as a risk factor for mental health outcomes such as stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression at 1-year follow-up. A study on US college students by Lepp et al. conclude that cell phone use, such as traditional sedentary behaviors, may disrupt physical activity, and reduce cardio-respiratory fitness.[4]

Furthermore, another area of concern is exposure to the electromagnetic field. Therefore, monitoring of adolescents mobile phone use by parents is required to identify any deviation from normal judicious use.[12]


  Conclusions Top


Excess use of mobile phones was seen in one-third of students, and it was significantly associated with age and stream of education. More than one-third students reported restlessness in the absence of mobile phones. Majority students felt their schooling, sleep, and daily core are getting affected by mobile phone use. Therefore, monitoring of adolescents mobile phone use by parents is required to identify any deviation from normal judicious use.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

 
  References Top

1.
Priyanka M. Mobile Phone Use by Young Adults in India – A Case Study, PhD; 2010. Available from: http://www.drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/10255/1/Matanhelia_umd_0117E_11079.pdf. [Last accessed on 2015 Apr 01].  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
A Study of Mobile Phone Usage among Teenagers and Youth in Mumbai: A Report by MACRO Market Analysis and Consumer Research Organization; April-May, 2004. Available from: https://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/futuremobile/socialaspects/IndiaMacroMobileYouthStudy04.pdf. [Last accessed on 2015 Apr 01].  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Choliz M. Mobile phone addiction in adolescence: The Test of Mobile Phone Dependence (TMD). Prog Health Sci 2012;2:33-44.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Lepp A, Barkley JE, Sanders GJ, Rebold M, Gates P. The relationship between cell phone use, physical and sedentary activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness in a sample of U.S. college students. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2013;10:79.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Campbell M. Impact of Mobile Phone on Young People's Life. Paper Presented to the Social Change in the 21st Century Conference. Available from: http://www. Eprints.qut.edu.au/3492/1/3492.pdf. [Last accessed on 2015 Sep 10].  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6.
Olatz LF, Luisa HS, Montserrat FB, Will G. Problematic mobile phone use in British adolescents. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 2013;10:1-8.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Madell D, Muncer S. Back from the beach but hanging on the telephone? English adolescents' attitudes and experiences of mobile phones and the internet. Cyberpsychol Behav 2004;7:359-67.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Xavier C, Ander C, Mark G, Ursula O, Ramon C, Antoni T. Problematic Internet and mobile phone use in Spanish teenagers and young students. An Psicol 2012;28:789-96.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Raju Srijampana VG, Endreddy AR, Prabhath K, Rajana B. Prevalence and patterns of Internet addiction among medical students. Med J DY Patil Univ 2014;7:709-13.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10.
Takao M, Takahashi S, Kitamura M. Addictive personality and problematic mobile phone use. Cyberpsychol Behav 2009;12:501-7.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Giovanni M, Corrado V, Domitilla DT, Marco DN, Pietro B, Gianluigi C, et al. Problematic mobile phone use in adolescence: A cross sectional study. J Public Health 2011;19:545-51. Available from: http://www.ijcmph.com/index.php/ijcmph/article/viewFile/792/676. [Last accessed on 2015 Jul 05].  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12.
Thomée S, Härenstam A, Hagberg M. Mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression among young adults – A prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health 2011;11:66.  Back to cited text no. 12
    



 
 
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  [Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3]



 

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