A Comparative Study on the Problematic Use of Mobile Phones and its Negative Consequences Among Students in Selected Urban and Rural Schools, Hoshiarpur, Punjab

 

Valjit Banga¹, Ramanjit², Archana Garg³, Satyajit⁴

¹Lecturer, Psychiatric (Mental Health) Nuring, Shri Guru Ram Dass College of Nuring, Hoshiarpur-146001

²Associate Professor, Psychiatric (Mental Health) Nuring, Shri Guru Ram Dass College of Nuring, Hoshiarpur-

³Vice-Principal cum Professor, Shri Guru Ram Dass College of Nuring, Hoshiarpur-146001

⁴Assistant professor, Shri Guru Ram Dass College of Nuring, Hoshiarpur-146001

 

ABSTRACT:

Background:

Mobile phones are one of the most common information access devices with almost 31% of the global population having access. Cell phones have grown at an unprecedented rate in the Indian subcontinent in the past few years. Over the last year, cell phone subscriptions have grown almost 50 % from 261 million to 506 million. Mobile phones came to India in the mind-1990s. 70% of urban youth owned a mobile and use it mainly for communicating with family and friends and as personal entertainment devices. Problematic use of mobile phonesis an abnormal, but relatively widespread form of consumer consumption which has range of negative social and financial consequences.

Objective:

The purpose of the study is to assess and compare the problematic use of mobile phone and its negative consequences among students in selected urban and rural schools.

Materials and methods:

The type of research is Quantitative research Non- Experimental approach i.e. comparative descriptive research design was used. The sample of 80 students having mobile phones from a selected school of district Hoshiarpur, Punjab was taken with purposive sampling technique. The modified standardized problematic use of mobile phone (PUMP) rating scale and a modified scale for negative consequences was administered to the students to collect data. The comparison between urban and rural problematic mobile phone use mean score and negative consequences mean scores was done by using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results:

The results revealed that majority of students i.e. 30(75%) in rural area had moderate level of problematic use of mobile phones. In urban area more than half of the students 23(57.5%) had moderate level of problematic use of mobile phones in rural area from the sample of 40 students half of the students 20(50%) were having mild level of negative consequences due to their mobile phone usage in urban area maximum number of the students i.e. 30(75%) have mild level of negative consequences due to their problematic mobile phone usage while 2(5%) students have severe level of negative consequences due to their problematic mobile phone usage.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Over the last 15 years there has been tremendous growth in the use of mobile phones because of its usefulness in communication and interactions in the sphere of work and private life. Besides communication, mobile phones have been used for other purposes like of playing games, listening to music, etc. Studies have also shown that use of mobile phone for social networking and e-mail has helped to reduce loneliness and in making friends. Resultantly mobile phones have become part and parcel of life of the user. Further, mobile phones have been used for smoking cessation and management of severe mental disorders.¹

 

The mobile market in India is booming. India being a big market offers tremendous business opportunities. Big multinationals from across the world are rushing to India. This has made the market good in favour of the customers.²

Excessive use of mobile phone is also associated with negative health consequences.³ The various negative consequence of mobile phone use include exposure to electromagnetic fields, headaches, earache and warmth sensations, perceived concentration difficulties, fatigue, dizziness, facial dermatitis, braintumors, frustration and musculoskeletal symptoms due to intensive texting. Also, electromagnetic radiations have been thought to affect the sleep electroencephalogram and melatonin production. Mobile phone use while driving has been associated with increased incidence of road trafficaccidents.⁴

 

The terms ‘‘mobile phone problematic use’’ (MPPU), ‘‘problem cell phone use’’ (PCPU), and ‘‘mobile phone abuse or addiction’’ have been used to describe patterns of interaction with a mobile phone that have the characteristics of addiction. MPPU is a form of ‘‘cyber-disorder, ‘cyber addiction, or a behavioral (technological) addiction and is characterized in the repetitive use of the mobile phone to engage in behavior that is known to be counterproductive to health. According to Billieux, problematic use of mobile phones has been associated with behaviors that include an inability to regulate one’s use of the mobile phone, resulting in numerous negative consequences in daily life, including symptoms of dependence, and instances of social, behavioral, and affective problems within an individual’s life.⁵

 

Mobile addicts are multiplying at an alarming rate, as an increasing number of teens, college students and middle-age parents fall victim to the problem. A "mobile addict" is defined as a user that launches apps more than 60 times a day, according to mobile analytics firm Flurry, six times more than the average user. The number of mobile addicts has grown by 123 % over the past year. As of March 2014, there were 176 million addicts, up from 79 million in the same period last year. Females accounted for 52 % of addicts, while the rest were males. It comes as no surprise that teens and college students are part of this group as their youth has coincided with the mobile revolution.⁶

 

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

A non- Experimental comparative descriptive research design was conducted among the students of 11^th and 12^th standard who were using mobile phones during February and March of 2016. The study included all the students of age ranging from 13 to 18 years Written informed consent was takenfrom all study subjects, before enrolment in thestudy. The nature and the purpose of the studywere explained briefly to the study population inthe informed consent form and then the study population wasselected using purposive sampling technique. Then, specially designedquestionnairewas given to the study population which had three parts. The first part aided in collecting socio-demographic details ofall the subjects, part 2 consisted of Modified Rating scale to assess problematic use of mobile phone which was constructed after reviewing standardized tool PUMP (Problematic use of mobile phone) and part 3 consisted of questions to assess the negative consequences of problematic use of mobile phone use which were again constructed after reviewing PUMP. After the questionnaires were collected, the sample was subjected to statistical analysis.

 

RESULTS:

The data was collected from a total of 80 subjects. The analysis revealed that in rural area most of the students i.e. 26(65%) were in age group of 16-17years, nearly half i.e. 19(47.5%) of the students belonged to the family having the income of ≤ Rs.10, 000/- and maximum students i.e. 24(60%) spent ≤ Rs.150 on their mobile phones, usage of mobile phone wasfor 1-3 hours in maximum number of the students majority of students i.e. 17(42.5%) used their mobile phones for social networking while on the other hand in urban areas nearly half of the total students i.e. 21(52.5%) belonged to the age group of 13-15 years majority of the students i.e. 13(32.5%) belonged to the family having the income of in between Rs.10, 001- Rs.20, 000/- area maximum number of students i.e. 24(60%) used their mobile phones for 1-3 hours majority of the students i.e.15 (37.5%) used their mobile phones for academic related activities

The results related to problematic mobile phone use and its negative consequences are depicted in the following tables and bar graphs.

 

Frequency and percentage distribution of students as per the level of problematic use of mobile phones among rural and urban area

Level of problematic use of mobile phone	Rural(n=40) n %		Urban(n=40) n %
Low problematic use	1	2.5	11	27.5
Moderate problematic use	39	97.5	27	67.5
Severe problematic use	-	-	2	5

 

 

Frequency and percentage distribution of students as per the level of negative consequences of using mobile phones

 

Level of negative consequences of using mobile phone	Rural(n=40) n %		Urban(n=40) n %
Mild negative consequences	11	27.5	22	55
Moderate negative consequences	29	72.5	16	40
Severe negative consequences	-	-	2	5

 

 

 

 

There was significant relationship between level of problematic use of mobile phone scores of students with their mobile phone usage per day in urban area(F=2.77) at p>0.05% level. There was significant relationship between level of negative consequences due to problematic use of mobile phone scores of students with gender (t=2.56)and mobile phone usage (F=6.28)at p> 0.05 and 0.001 level in rural school.

 

 

DISCUSSION:

Mobile addicts are multiplying at an alarming rate, as an increasing number of teens, college students and middle-age parents fall victim to the problem. Studies on the association between problematic use of mobile phones and its negative effect have been relatively few until now. The impact of mobile phone in adolescents in different domains of mental health could be severe in coming years. The results of the present study revealed the problematic use in school children of both urban and rural areas is causing serious consequences. The result of the study was supported by a study conducted by Abraham Billy Sherin, kanimozhy, Stalin P which revealed that Health problems like headache, earache, tinnitus, painful fingers and restlessness etc., were found to be positively associated with mobile phone usage.⁶In another study by Researchers at International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA), University of Maryland (UM), U.S. the findings were found consistent to the present study. About 40% of young adults admit using their mobiles for more than four hours a day. Most of them say they spend "several hours a day" on their phones. Many of these people are "deeply upset" if their missed calls or messages do not elicit a response. The previous studies related to mobile phones are limited, findings from few more studies could be useful to assess the seriousness of the problem.

 

IMPLICATION:

The findings of the present study have several implications which are discussed in the following areas:

 

Nursing Education:

·        The study can be helpful in nursing curriculum to provide opportunity for students to gain knowledge regarding problematic mobile phone use and understand about the negative effect of it.

·        The study will help to bring attention toward psychological problems associated with problematic mobile phone usage among adolescents and their impact over them followed by solutions available for the problem.

 

Nursing Practice:

·        The findings of the study could be used to train the nurses to provide guidance and counselling services in the community and schools to discourage the problematic mobile use for the students at school as well as home.

·        The present study can encourage the nurses to explore more on the same topic.

 

Nursing research:

·        The information contained in the present study can be valuable source of data for future researchers. It can help them in conducting research with large sample size in other different mental and psychological problems due to problematic mobile phone usage.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

·        The following recommendations are made on the basis of the findings of the present study :-

·        A similar study may be replicated on a large sample to validate and generalize the findings.

·        A similar study with structured interview method can be conducted for data collection rather than self-reporting method.

·        A longitudinal study can be conducted for assessing the problematic mobile phone use and its negative consequences.

·        An experimental study can be conducted to assess the problematic mobile phone use and strategies to reduce its negative consequences.

 

CONCLUSION:

Based on the present study findings, the investigator observe that the difference had been found in the mean scores of problematic mobile phone in rural (57.47) and urban (54.22) school students and its negative consequences among the rural(20.40) and the urban (17.97) school students. The mean scores of problematic use of mobile phones and negative consequences, both were higher in the students of the rural area. It would be wrong on our part to generalize the results of study in different parts of India. So, it is the test of the time to come up with better questionnaire which needs to be elaborate and open ended, for finding out the problematic use of mobile phones. A further study with different sample from different place could help to understand the gravity of the problem.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

We would like to thank all the participating students for their valuable time and responses for this study. We extend our gratitude to the college authorities for their cooperation and the school authorities for giving permission to conduct this study.

 

REFERENCES:

1.     Kamibeppu K, Sugiura H. Impact of the mobile phone on Junior High School Students’ Friendships in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Cyberpsychol Behav 2005;8:121-30.

2.     Sanjeev Davey and Anuradha Davey. Assessment of Smartphone Addiction in Indian Adolescents: A Mixed Method Study by Systematic-review and Meta-analysis Approach. international journal of preventive medicine 2014 Dec ; 5(12): 1500–1511

3.     McCartt AT, Hellinga LA, Bratiman KA. Cell phones and driving: Review of research. Traffic Inj Prev 2006; 7:89-106.

4.     Klauer SG, Dingus TA, Neale VL, Sudweeks JD, Ramsey DJ. The impact of driver inattention on near-crash/crash risk: An analysis using the 100-car naturalistic driving study data. DOT HS 810 594. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2006

5.     Billieux J. Problematic use of the mobile phone: a literature review and a pathways model. Current Psychiatry Reviews. 2012; 8:299–307.

6.     Abraham Billy Sherin, kanimozhy, Stalin P., Mobile Phone Usage and its Health Effects Among Adults in a Semi-Urban Area of Southern India. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research [Internet]. 2016 [cited 3 February 2016];10(1). Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4740623/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Received on 27.07.2017           Modified on 16.08.2017

Accepted on 29.10.2017     © A&V Publications all right reserved