Date Presented 03/26/20
This study examined the impact of smartphone addiction on freshman college student grade point averages (GPAs). A correlational analysis examined the GPAs of 65 college students and compared it to their self-reported Smartphone Addiction Inventory scores. While there appears to be an association between increased addiction and decreased GPA, these were not statistically significant. These findings can help explore smartphone addiction and its impact on academic performance.
Primary Author and Speaker: Tara Lisewski
Additional Authors and Speakers: Dallas Sweeney, Courtney Miele-Moran
Contributing Authors: Fatema Osman, Catherine Cavaliere, John Damiao
PURPOSE: Although smartphone use is rapidly increasing across the globe, there is limited research on the impact of smartphone addiction on academic performance. Individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to be affected by smartphone addiction due to increased smartphone use and reliance; therefore more exploration of this topic is warranted. Researchers hypothesized smartphone addiction may lead to poor academic performance among first-year college students who are vulnerable to the stressors associated with the transition to higher education. The variables being measured in this study are smartphone addiction, as measured by the Smartphone Addiction Inventory and academic performance, as measured by grade point average (GPA). Within the field of occupational therapy, it is necessary to understand how smartphone addiction can impact various occupations.
DESIGN: The study followed a naturalistic correlational quantitative approach to determine the association between smartphone addiction and academic performance. Convenience sampling was utilized through a mass email to target all sophomore students of Dominican College. Participants were included in the study if they attended Dominican their freshman year. The Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) was utilized to measure the severity of participants smartphone use. Academic performance was measured by the sophomore student’s grade point averages (GPA). The Spearman’s Rho was used to measure the correlation between the independent variable of overall SPAI score and the dependent variable of the subject’s GPA. The relationship between each of the four components of smartphone addiction (Tolerance, Compulsive Behavior, Withdrawal, Functional Impairment) and the subject’s GPA was also measured.
RESULTS: The average total SPAI scores were correlated using a Spearman Rho to the GPA of each participant. While there was a weak negative relationship, it was not statistically significant (rho (63)= -.020, p>.05). No significant correlations were found when correlating overall GPA to tolerance (rho (63)= -.168, p >.05), compulsive behavior (rho (63)= -.071, p >.05), functional impairment (rho (63)= -.019, p >.05), and withdrawal (rho (63)= -.027, p >.05). This suggests that though there is no significant correlation, a slight negative correlation between smartphone addiction and academic performance was found. However, upon post hoc analysis using a one-tailed Mann-Whitney U comparing the GPA of the students who had the highest addiction scores (top 15%) to the remaining 85% of the sample, the difference between the groups was statistically significant (p= .034).
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicated that there is no significant correlation between smartphone addiction and academic performance. However, slight negative trends between the freshman students’ GPA and SPAI scores were identified. This was further reinforced in the statistically significant difference between the most and least addicted groups. These trends can help direct future researchers when examining the impacts of the different components of smartphone addiction on academic performance. These findings can benefit the occupational therapy profession by guiding future research to determine the technological barriers and facilitators to successful occupational performance.
References
Chen, B., Liu, F., Ding, S., Ying, X., Wang, L., & Wen, Y. (2017). Gender differences in factors associated with smartphone addiction: a cross-sectional study among medical college students. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 341. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1503-z
Chen, S. (2014). Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI)
Lister-Landman, K. M., Domoff, S. E., & Dubow, E. F. (2017). The role of compulsive texting in adolescents’ academic functioning. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 6(4), 311-325. doi:10.1037/ppm0000100
Rosen, L.D., Carrier, L.M., & Cheever, N.A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 948-958
