Mobile phones usage and its association with stress, anxiety and depression among adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: The usage of smart phones has been so much embedded in our lives that it seems to be nearly impossible at times to avoid them. Over usage of smart phone is a common problem all around the world especially among youngsters which might affect them negatively. Objective: The objective of the study is to calculate the excessive mobile phone usage and its influence on stress, anxiety and depression among adolescents. Materials and Methods: The present study is done among students in Khammam and consists of 100 adolescents within the age group 12-19 yrs. during a period of 6 months. The study is done by the usage of Smart phone addiction scale (33 item scale) & DASS-42 (Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scale). Results: The generalities and the factors with smart phone addiction and anxiety, depression and stress are correlated with each other. Higher scores indicated higher levels of addiction and its correlation with stress, anxiety and depression. Conclusion: There should be supervision for the usage of mobile phones for adolescents to prevent mental health problems.