Do Chinese and British University Students Use Smartphones Differently? A Cross-cultural Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Although an increasing number of studies have focused on problematic smartphone use and smartphone addiction, few of these studies have employed both quantitative and qualitative methods or employed a cross-cultural design. A limited number of studies have compared eastern and western groups. The present study investigates the prevalence and causes of problematic smartphone use among Chinese and British undergraduates. A sample of n = 778 undergraduates participated in this study (475 Chinese students and 303 British students). Students' scores on a self-report measure of problematic smartphone use were compared across country and gender. Qualitative data were analyzed using the framework approach. Chinese undergraduates reported significantly higher levels of PSU than British undergraduates, with a medium to large effect size. Females scored significantly higher than males in both groups. Chinese students reported that the sharp transition from a strictly managed high school life to a freer university life affected their level of smartphone use. This study indicates the importance of considering cultural and educational backgrounds when conducting studies on problematic smartphone use.Keywords Problematic smartphone use . Smartphone addiction . Cross-cultural study . Mixed methods design . Student smartphone use Smartphones, as mobile devices with flexible Internet access and diverse applications, are now widely used around the world. The global smartphone penetration rate has increased sharply in a short period, from 10% in 2011 to 36% in 2018 (Statista 2018a). Research has found mobile phones (and more recently smartphones) can have both positive and negative impacts (Aoki

Social Networks Use Disorder and Associations With Depression and Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review of Recent Research in China

“…It could be speculated that the effect of protective factors such as high empathy or life satisfaction differ in both cultures, although works such as by Lachmann et al (2018) or older work by Melchers et al (2015) rather hint at the comparability of mechanisms. In general, the present review results are in line with the study by Yang et al (2019) comparing British and Chinese students; our findings emphasize differences regarding prevalence rates between cultures.…”

“…The specific uses of SNSs may be different between cultures. Furthermore, Asian users have been shown to display more SNUD symptoms than Western users (Kuss et al, 2014;Stodt et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2019). This shows that further research examining SNUD in Asian countries is warranted.…”

“…In this part of the world, unintended side effects of digitization such as the development of addictive behaviors toward diverse online content need to be investigated (Montag and Diefenbach, 2018;Scholz et al, 2018). Furthermore, prevalence rates outline that SNUD seems to be a serious problem in Eastern cultures, especially when comparing those prevalence rates to Western cultures (e.g., Khumsri et al, 2015;Guedes et al, 2016;Stodt et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2019). We believe that a focus on Chinese SNSs is timely and relevant because much of what has been presented in the literature represents the Western view on the topic (including a strong focus on Western SNSs such as Facebook R see Sindermann et al, 2020).…”

Factors associated with smartphone addiction: A comparative study between Japanese and Thai high school students

“…One Thai study found that 45.8% of students aged 18-24 years in Chiang Mai had excessive smartphone use [29], while in Japan, Tateno and colleagues documented a smartphone addiction prevalence of 22.8% among males and 28% among female college students (mean age 19 years ±1.3) [30]. In Western countries, the prevalence of smartphone addiction and/or other problematic smartphone use ranged from 16.9% to 43.3% [31,32].…”

“A Cancer in the Minds of Youth?” A Qualitative Study of Problematic Smartphone Use among Undergraduate Students

“…It is unclear whether smartphone use or PSU changes between school and university. The move to university entails major lifestyle changes and disruption to existing social support networks, as well as increased independence (Yang et al 2019b). Consequently, it would be useful to further investigate PSU among British young adults.…”