Problematic smartphone use and specific problematic Internet uses among university students and associated predictive factors: a systematic review

Abstract

University students are a high-risk population with problematic online behaviours that include generalized problematic Internet/smartphone use and specific problematic Internet uses (for example, social media or gaming). The study of their predictive factors is needed in order to develop preventative strategies. This systematic review aims to understand the current state of play by examining the terminology, assessment instruments, prevalence, and predictive factors associated with problematic smartphone use and specific problematic Internet uses in university students. A literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines using four major databases. A total of 117 studies were included, divided into four groups according to the domain of problem behaviour: problematic smartphone use (n = 67), problematic social media use (n = 39), Internet gaming disorder (n = 9), and problematic online pornography use (n = 2). Variability was found in terminology, assessment tools, and prevalence rates in the four groups. Ten predictors of problematic smartphone use, five predictors of problematic social media use, and one predictor of problematic online gaming were identified. Negative affectivity is found to be a common predictor for all three groups, while social media use, psychological well-being, and Fear of Missing Out are common to problematic smartphone and social media use. Our findings reaffirm the need to reach consistent diagnostic criteria in cyber addictions and allow us to make progress in the investigation of their predictive factors, thus allowing formulation of preventive strategies.

Is There an Association between Increased Stress and Smartphone Addiction? Insights from a Study on Medical Students from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Third, the relationship between perceived stress and PSU among Chinese university students was influenced by the mediation of FOMO [ 35 ]. Students attempt to relieve their stress by constantly checking their smartphones for messages, following what their peers are doing and what is trending on social media [ 35 , 36 ]. A weak positive correlation between smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms was observed in the current study.…”

An AI based approach to evaluate students old script writings

“…However, this subject has not yet spread to the wider communities. In addition, by the advancement of information technology in today's era, the interest of students to learn the old characters is vanishing despite problematic use of gadgets and Internet (Sánchez-Fernández & Borda-Mas, 2023) as well as three levels of gaps in digital divides, i.e. disparities of access; usage, knowledge and skill; and outcomes of information and communication technologies (ICT) use as mentioned in Campos and Scherer (2024).…”

Problematic Internet use and attitudes towards persons with disabilities – cross-sectional research among Polish students

“…The choice of the IAT instrument should provide an opportunity to directly compare the results of our research with studies using the IAT around the world, for example in the UK [ 82 ], USA, China, Korea, Turkey [ 83 , 84 ], and India [ 85 ]. Despite the apparent changes in online functioning and attempts to separate the problems associated with this into the areas of smartphone use, social networking, or pornography, the meta-analyses continue to show the effective use of the IAT [ 50 , 86 , 87 ].…”