The Relationship between Mental Health and Addiction to Mobile Phones ‎among University Students of Shahrekord, Iran

Background: The risk of cell phone addiction is a social and psychological problem which has been proposed by ‎psychologists, psychiatrists, and educational supervisors. The present study aimed to investigate the ‎behavior of mobile phone addicts and mental health of university students of Shahrekord, Iran‎. Methods: This study was an applied research survey for the purposes of this study. The study population ‎consisted of all the students of Payame Noor University, Islamic Azad University, and University of ‎Medical Sciences. The study population consisted of 296 students who were randomly selected from ‎the target population. To collect data, two types of questionnaires were used, the Symptom Checklist-‎‎90-R (SCL-90-R) questionnaire, and the 32-point scale questionnaire of behavior associated with ‎mobile phone use (Hooper and Zhou, 2007). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software, ‎statistical analysis, frequency distribution, mean, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and LSD (Least ‎significance difference)‎. Findings: The results showed that university students of Shahrekord, based on the six categories of mobile ‎addiction behaviors, were mostly placed in habitual behaviors (21.49%), addiction (21.49%), and ‎intentional (21.49%) categories. By reviewing mental health indicators, it was found that students ‎were affected with depressive disorder (17.30%), obsessive compulsive disorder (14.20%), and ‎interpersonal sensitivity (13.80%). The results showed that there was a significant inverse relationship ‎between mental health and habitual behaviors (r = -0.417), dependence (r = -0.317), addiction (r = -‎‎0.330), and incontinence (r = -0.309) in using mobile phone (P < 0.001)‎. Conclusion: Survey results showed that with increased and improved mental health, the student’s rate of cell ‎phone addiction reduced.