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Associations between problematic mobile phone use and psychological parameters in young adults

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International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

This study aims to address possible associations between excessive or dysfunctional use of mobile phones and certain psychological variables.

Methods

Our study focuses on Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PU) in 196 young adults. A survey was arranged to measure PU, daily mobile phone use in minutes, use of short message service (SMS) and also included psychological and health variables (e.g., chronic stress, depression).

Results

Statistic analysis indicates that chronic stress, low emotional stability, female gender, young age, depression, and extraversion are associated with PU.

Conclusions

Future research needs to clarify the causality of these findings and should also intend to develop concepts for a more meaningful use of mobile phone and related technologies.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to sincerely thank the participating schools and students for their fruitful cooperation and Dr. Ilse Jekel for her technical help.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Correspondence to Christoph Augner.

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Augner, C., Hacker, G.W. Associations between problematic mobile phone use and psychological parameters in young adults. Int J Public Health 57, 437–441 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0234-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0234-z

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