Association of problematic mobile phone use with psychological distress and self-esteem among college students in South India: a cross-sectional study

Background Several past studies indicated that religious beliefs, orientation, and practice are protective of suicide. Findings from recent studies in China suggest that religiosity may contribute to increased suicidality. However, few studies have examined the associations between religious affiliation across different faiths and suicidality in China. Objective The current study examines the association between religious affiliation and suicidality among college students in six provinces in China. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 11,407 college students from six universities in Ningxia, Shandong, Shanghai, Jilin, Qinghai, and Shaanxi. We collected the data between October 2017 and March 2018 using self-report questionnaires. They included self-report measures of depression, psychache, hopelessness, self-esteem, social support, and life purpose. Results Participants with a Christian affiliation had 1.5 times (95% CI: 1.14, 1.99, p = 0.004) higher odds of indicating an elevated suicide risk, 3.1 times (95% CI: 1.90, 5.04, p<0.001) higher odds of indicating a previous suicide attempt, and increased overall suicidality (B = 0.105, p < 0.001) after accounting for demographic and risk/protective factors. Christians also scored the highest in depression, psychache, hopelessness, and the lowest social support, self-esteem, and purpose in life. Muslims reported decreased suicidality (B = -0.034, p = 0.031). Buddhism/Daoism yielded non-significant results in the multivariate analyses. Conclusions Christian college students reported increased suicidality levels, perhaps due to public policies on religion. The decreased suicidality levels among Muslims may be attributed to higher perceived social support. The associations between religious affiliation and suicidality, depression, and hopelessness contrast sharply with US samples. This finding may be influenced by interactions between the religious denomination, individual, and social/political factors. This conclusion includes the possibility of anti-religious discrimination, which this paper did not investigate as a possible mediator and therefore remains a conjecture worthy of future investigation.

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A study to evaluate mobile phone dependence among students of a medical teaching institute in Mumbai

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20205703 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 253

Author(s):

Shreya Sodhani ◽

Priyanka Gupta ◽

Anuradha Kunal Shah

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical Teaching ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Study Participants ◽

Harmful Effects

Background: Mobile phone use has become such a significant part of the life of medical students that they do not realize their level of dependence on their cell phones. It is therefore imperative to identify the threshold where mobile phones cross the line from being a helpful tool to becoming one that enslaves the users. They need to be made aware of the harmful effects of excessive use of mobile phones and counseled about ways to avoid it. This study aims to assess the prevalence and pattern of mobile phone dependence among medical students.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among MBBS students of a medical teaching institute in Mumbai. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire (NMP-Q) was sent to all the students out of which 205 students responded and consented to participate in the study.Results: Amongst all the study participants, 47.3% were males (97/205) and 52.7% were females (108/205). Mild Nomophobia was found in 19.04% students whereas 50.70% had moderate and 30.26% had severe Nomophobia. Amongst the males, 56.7% and 26.8% had moderate and severe Nomophobia, respectively while in females, moderate and severe Nomophobia was found to be 45.4% and 33.3%, respectively.Conclusions: Mobile phone dependence is prevalent amongst medical students.

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