Internet Addiction, Problematic Smartphone Use and Psychological Health of Nigerian University Undergraduates

Aim: This study examined Internet Addiction (IA) and Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU) as predictors of severities of anxiety, depression and psychological distress among university undergraduates in Nigeria.

Study Design: Exploratory /Descriptive survey design.

Place and Duration of Study: Redeemer’s University Nigeria, between April and August 2018.

Methodology: A total of 854 university undergraduates made up of 342 males and 512 females, mean age 20.5 years, were purposively selected from four universities in Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were used for data collection.

Results: Observed prevalence of studied variables among respondents are: Internet Addiction (IA) 48.6%, Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU) (47.4%), anxiety disorder (50.6%), depression (49.8%) and psychological distress (47.6%). IA independently and significantly predicted severities of anxiety disorder (R² = .01, p = .025), depression (R² = .057, p = .000) and psychological distress (R² = .105, p = .000). PSU independently and significantly predicted severities of depression (R² = .073, p = .000) and psychological distress (R² = .094, p = .000). However PSU failed to significantly predict severity of anxiety disorder (R² = .00, p = .650) among the participants.

Conclusion: High prevalence of IA, PSU, anxiety disorder, depression and psychological distress exist among the participants. IA is a significant independent predictor of anxiety, depression and psychological distress. PSU is a significant independent predictor of depression and psychological distress but is not a significant predictor anxiety disorder among Nigerian undergraduates.