Relationship between Problematic Smartphone Use and Social Anxiety among University Students: A Case of United States International University-Africa

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between problematic smartphone use and social anxiety among United States International University-Africa students. The objectives of the study were: to determine gender differences in relation to problematic smartphone use; to assess the levels of social anxiety among university students; and to establish whether there was a relation between problematic smartphone use and social anxiety among university students. Self-determination theory was adopted as the theoretical framework, while descriptive correlational design was the defined research methodology. A total sample size of 106 (73 female and 33 males) participated in the study that were sampled using convenience sampling technique. The participants had a mean age of 28 years old (SD = 0.587). The results of the study showed that there was no significant gender difference t(104) = 0.696, p = 0.346, between males (M = 23.85, SD =6.63) and females (M = 22.96, SD = 5.84) in relation to problematic smartphone use. However, the respondents had mean level of 23.2 (SD = 6.08) on problematic smartphone use. On the levels of social anxiety, the result established that 17 % of the participants had high levels of social anxiety and only 6.6% showed moderate levels of social anxiety. On the relationship between the study variables, it revealed that there was a statistically significant weak positive correlation (r = 0.222, P = 0.02) between problematic smartphone use and social anxiety among students. Therefore, this study recommends that the university should undertake periodic training and workshops of students on the problematic smartphone use and social anxiety. Additionally, face to face interaction or activities should be enhanced within the university environment.