The Prevalence and Predictors of Problematic Mobile Phone Use: a 14-Country Empirical Survey

Kalaitzaki A.; Laconi S.; Spritzer D.T.; Hauck S.; Gnisci A.; Sergi I.; Vally Z.; Tudorel O.; Vintila M.; Malik S.; Diaz J.R.; Männikkö N.; Cikrikci O.; Salas G.; Ardila R.; Zambrano D.; Lopez-Calle C.; Sahlan R.N. · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2024) · DOI: 10.1007/s11469-022-00901-2

Resumen

This study examined (a) differences in estimates of Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PMPU) in adults across 14 countries worldwide and (b) whether personality and psychopathology variables predict PMPU. A sample of 7531 adults (69.6% women; mean age 25.7, SD = 9.9) completed an online survey about PMPU, defense mechanisms, coping strategies, self-esteem, pathological personality traits, and depressive symptoms. The overall mean PMPU score was 104.3 (range 27–270) and 28.1% of the participants self-reported PMPU. Women had significantly higher PMPU overall. Consistent predictors of increased PMPU in the overall sample were younger age, female gender, more hours spent on mobile phone, coping strategies, immature and autistic defenses, depression, and six personality disorders. Significant differences across countries were found in means, self-reported rates, and predictors of PMPU (hours spent, dependent personality, depression, and immature defense were common). Findings pave the way for evidence-based prevention and policy efforts at the public health level. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Instituciones: Universidad Privada del Norte