Relationship Between Problematic Smartphone Use and Psychological Distress Among University Students- a Case Study of Mount Kenya University, Kiambu County

Abstract

The purpose7of7this7study was to7establish7the7relationship7between problematic smartphone use and psychological distress. The objectives of the study were to establish if there is a relationship between problematic smartphone use and psychological distress; to determine whether there are gender differences in relation to problematic phone usage; and to determine whether the socio- economic status of Mount Kenya University students is a factor as far as problematic smartphone use and psychological distress are concerned. This study had a total of 81 respondents. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants with descriptive correlational methodology adopted. On the level of problematic smartphone use 70.4% of the respondents had mild levels of problematic smartphone use and 17.3% had severe levels with a mean of 26.07 (SD = 5.54). In relation to gender, results indicated that there was no gender difference t (79) = 0.510, p = 0.611 in relation to problematic smartphone use. For relationship between problematic smartphone use and socio-economic, results showed no association between problematic smartphone use and socio-economic status, X2 = (80, 78) = 67.109, p = 0.85. On the relationship between problematic relationship and psychological distress, statistical Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that there was positive correlation between problematic smartphone use and depression (r =0.57, p = 0.00), a significant positive correlation between problematic smartphone use and anxiety (r = 0.56, p = 0.00), and a significant positive correlation between problematic smartphone use and stress (r = 0.52, p = 0.00). This study recommended that from time to time the universities should carry out workshops and training and sensitization to create awareness on the impact of problematic smartphone use and the association to psychological distress.