Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger
To reduce the spread of COVID-19, Jordan enforced 10 weeks of home quarantine in the spring of 2020. A cross-sectional study was designed to assess this extended quarantine's effect on smartphone addiction levels among undergraduates. A random sample of 6,157 undergraduates completed an online...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.600134/full |
| _version_ | 1818934389003780096 |
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| author | Heba Saadeh Reem Q. Al Fayez Assem Al Refaei Nour Shewaikani Hamzah Khawaldah Sobuh Abu-Shanab Maysa Al-Hussaini Maysa Al-Hussaini |
| author_facet | Heba Saadeh Reem Q. Al Fayez Assem Al Refaei Nour Shewaikani Hamzah Khawaldah Sobuh Abu-Shanab Maysa Al-Hussaini Maysa Al-Hussaini |
| author_sort | Heba Saadeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To reduce the spread of COVID-19, Jordan enforced 10 weeks of home quarantine in the spring of 2020. A cross-sectional study was designed to assess this extended quarantine's effect on smartphone addiction levels among undergraduates. A random sample of 6,157 undergraduates completed an online questionnaire (mean age 19.79 ± 1.67 years; males 28.7%). The questionnaire contains different sections to collect socio-demographic, socio-economic, academic, quarantine-related information, and smartphone usage. The smartphone addiction scale-short version was used to assess the degree of addiction during the quarantine. The mean addiction score across the whole sample was 35.66 ± 12.08, while the prevalence of addiction among participants was 62.4% (63.5% in males and 61.9% in females). The majority of the participants (85%) reported that their smartphone usage during the quarantine increased or greatly increased (27.6 and 57.2%, respectively), with some 42% using their smartphones for more than 6 h a day. Nevertheless, three-quarters of the students wished to reduce their smartphone usage. Several demographic and quarantine factors have been assessed, and students' gender, the field of study, parental education, household income in addition to the location of quarantine (urban, rural) and the house specifications (apartment, independent house, with/without a garden) showed statistically significant associations with smartphone addiction during the quarantine. Female students, students studying scientific- and medical-related majors compared to those studying humanity majors, those with higher incomes, those who had been quarantined in an apartment without a garden, and those who lived in urban areas showed significantly higher addiction scores. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T05:03:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b24d2e7406c74a9ca00eb346dc4340e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T05:03:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-b24d2e7406c74a9ca00eb346dc4340e42022-12-21T19:52:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652021-07-01910.3389/fpubh.2021.600134600134Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical TriggerHeba Saadeh0Reem Q. Al Fayez1Assem Al Refaei2Nour Shewaikani3Hamzah Khawaldah4Sobuh Abu-Shanab5Maysa Al-Hussaini6Maysa Al-Hussaini7Department of Computer Science, King Abdullah II School of Information Technology Faculty, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanDepartment of Computer Information System, King Abdullah II School of Information Technology Faculty, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanSchool of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanSchool of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanDepartment of Geography, School of Arts, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanPsychosocial Program, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanHuman Research Protection Program Office, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanTo reduce the spread of COVID-19, Jordan enforced 10 weeks of home quarantine in the spring of 2020. A cross-sectional study was designed to assess this extended quarantine's effect on smartphone addiction levels among undergraduates. A random sample of 6,157 undergraduates completed an online questionnaire (mean age 19.79 ± 1.67 years; males 28.7%). The questionnaire contains different sections to collect socio-demographic, socio-economic, academic, quarantine-related information, and smartphone usage. The smartphone addiction scale-short version was used to assess the degree of addiction during the quarantine. The mean addiction score across the whole sample was 35.66 ± 12.08, while the prevalence of addiction among participants was 62.4% (63.5% in males and 61.9% in females). The majority of the participants (85%) reported that their smartphone usage during the quarantine increased or greatly increased (27.6 and 57.2%, respectively), with some 42% using their smartphones for more than 6 h a day. Nevertheless, three-quarters of the students wished to reduce their smartphone usage. Several demographic and quarantine factors have been assessed, and students' gender, the field of study, parental education, household income in addition to the location of quarantine (urban, rural) and the house specifications (apartment, independent house, with/without a garden) showed statistically significant associations with smartphone addiction during the quarantine. Female students, students studying scientific- and medical-related majors compared to those studying humanity majors, those with higher incomes, those who had been quarantined in an apartment without a garden, and those who lived in urban areas showed significantly higher addiction scores.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.600134/fullCOVID-19Jordanquarantineshort version addiction scalesmartphone addictionuniversity students |
| spellingShingle | Heba Saadeh Reem Q. Al Fayez Assem Al Refaei Nour Shewaikani Hamzah Khawaldah Sobuh Abu-Shanab Maysa Al-Hussaini Maysa Al-Hussaini Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 Jordan quarantine short version addiction scale smartphone addiction university students |
| title | Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger |
| title_full | Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger |
| title_fullStr | Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger |
| title_short | Smartphone Use Among University Students During COVID-19 Quarantine: An Ethical Trigger |
| title_sort | smartphone use among university students during covid 19 quarantine an ethical trigger |
| topic | COVID-19 Jordan quarantine short version addiction scale smartphone addiction university students |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.600134/full |
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