Differences of Self-Control, Daily Life Stress, and Communication Skills between Smartphone Addiction Risk Group and General Group in Korean Nursing Students

Abstract

Concerns about smartphone addiction have been raised as the use time of and dependence on the smartphone is increasing. This study were to examine the differences of self-control, daily life stress, and communication skills between smartphone addiction risk group and general group in nursing students, South Korea. A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted. Samples were total 139 nursing students (addictive risk: n = 40, general: n = 99) at G and B cities in South Korea. Measures were general characteristics form, self-control scale in Korean version, daily life stress scale for college students, and Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (GICC). There were significant differences on self-control (t = 3.02, p = 0.003) and daily life stress (t = 3.56, p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference on communication skills (t = 1.72, p = 0.088) between two groups. Nursing students in smart phone addiction risk group had worse self-control and higher daily life stress than nursing students in general group. The preventive education programs for healthy smartphone use of Korean nursing students are needed.