Addiction to the Smartphone in High School Students - How It’s in Daily Life?

Oct 15, 2026

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Nowadays, the global pandemic crisis intensified the need for electronic communication, making smartphones a daily necessity. This study analyzes how high school students use mobile phones to determine whether such use has generated addiction and whether levels differ between men and women. Participants included 184 high school students from a public institution in Veracruz, Mexico. Data were collected with the SAS-CV test and analyzed using polychoric correlation matrices and factor analysis, identifying three components—physiological, dependence, and distraction—explaining 68% of total variance with no gender differences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

State of the Art

Studies on gender differences and usage patterns

Historical ownership trends and perceived risks

Motivation, communication styles, and behavioral impacts

Addiction to the Smartphone in High School Students: How It’s in Daily Life? Arturo García-Santillán UCC Busines School, Universidad Cristóbal Colón, Mexico ORCID: 0000-0001-7284-5959 Ester Espinosa-Ramos Sussane Wesley College, Veracruz, Mexico ORCID: 0000-0001-7363-570X Received: 22 Sep 2020 Accepted: 10 Nov 2020 Abstract Nowadays, the serious situation that affects the entire world goes beyond the social, cultural, economic problems and other conflicts that occur day by day. These were left aside to move to a global alert; we refer to the pandemic crisis that all the nations of the world are facing. Confinement forced people allover the world to stay at home; therefore, communications through electronic devices became very necessary. This study does not seek to analyze the pandemic crisis; its purpose is to analyze the use that students give to their mobile phone, to determine if this has generated addiction, in addition to identifying if use differs in men and in women. Participants were 184 high school students enrolled in a public sector institution in the Port of Veracruz, Mexico. To obtain the data, the SAS-CV test was used. This contains questions related to the profile of the respondent and 10 items in Likert format. It was distributed via electronic devices for their response. The data were statistically analyzed using polychoric correlation matrices and factor analysis with component extraction. The main findings demonstrate the obtaining of three components: physiological, dependence and distraction, which account for 68% of the total variance, and it was also shown that there are no differences by gender. Keywords: addiction smartphone, polychoric correlations matrices, principal component, factorial analysis INTRODUCTION Buying a mobile phone could seem harmless up to a certain point, since we have been convinced that it is a tool used by the individual to communicate with the surrounding society; however, how much has this tool become an essential need in daily life? Does constant use influence behavior? Does it cause addiction? Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine if high-school students are addicted to mobile phones and if this addiction differs in relation to gender. State of the Art Regarding addiction to mobile phones, the findings by Ling (2002) demonstrate that mobile phones work asa means to keep a direct and controlled communication between parents and children. Having a mobile phone has also allowed teenagers to shape an identity as part of a social group, where they have the possibility of creating a unique and exclusive language as part of said group of people. This coincides with the arguments of other similar studies (Mante & Piris, 2002; Protegeles, 2005) . Likewise, Ling highlights the differences by gender, since his research proved there is a larger number of women who send text messages, unlike men, who make more phone calls; these results match other studies on the subject (Bianchi & Phillips, 2005; Madell & Muncer, 2004) . In the chronological analysis of mobile phones made by Ling (2002), it is stated that in the year 1997 its use was oriented mainly to work matters and more men than women where in possession of a mobile phone. In 1999 there were no differences by gender because both used them; however, there was a debate about whether the use of mobile phones posed a risk if used while driving or because it emitted electromagnetic radiations, so there were people who chose not to have one. Before 2001, people of different ages owned a mobile phone, being women more prone to buy mobile phones than men; in May 2001 there was an increase in the ownership of mobile phones by men, surpassing women. In another study carried out by Mante and Piris (2002), they point out that young Dutch people use mobile phones to send text messages as a fast way of communication since it is low-cost, convenient and indirect, thus avoiding to be face to face and ex

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study on smartphone use among high school students?

The study determines whether high school students are addicted to mobile phones and whether addiction differs by gender.

Who participated and how were the data collected?

The study involved 184 high school students from a public institution in Veracruz, Mexico. Data were collected using the SAS-CV test distributed electronically.

What were the main findings from the factor analysis?

The analysis produced three components—physiological, dependence, and distraction—accounting for 68% of the total variance, with no differences by gender.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by nayy☆