The relationship between emotional intelligence and mobile dependency of students in Birjand Azad University, 2012

Inappropriate use of mobile phones may lead to pathological stress in some people. Identification of people at risk, the underlying conditions, and prevention are necessary. Uncontrolled emotions can lead to addictive and compulsive behaviors. Thus, this study aimed to determine the relationship between mobile phone dependency and student's emotional intelligence in Azad University of Birjand in 2012. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 312 students who were chosen with systemic random sampling method. Tools to collect data included Bar-On’s 90-item five-scale Emotional Intelligence Scale and 20-item mobile dependency questionnaire in three areas. In the mobile questionnaire, scores greater or equal to 70 indicated addiction, between 63-70 suggested intensive uses, and scores less than 63 implied moderate use. Reliability coefficient was 0.93. Students were selected by systematic random sampling. The data were analyzed in SPSS (version 14) using Chi-square, Fisher exact test, independent t test, and ANOVA as well as Pearson correlation and regression. From among the 312 students with the mean age of 22.16±3.39 years, 90% (283) were moderate users, 7.4%(23) intensive users, and 1.9%(6) were addicted. M obile dependency had a significant difference with time of mobile use but not with the mean score of emotional intelligence. Mobile dependency was more in married and master students. Mean score of students’ mobile dependency was 45.59±11.61, and the highest score was related to insisting field (18.91±4.70). There was a positive significant relationship between emotional intelligence and mobile dependency; the correlation coefficient between mobile dependency and emotional intelligence was 0.29. Regression suggested that emotional intelligence can predict dependency on mobile use. Mobile dependency can be predicted on the basis of emotional intelligence. Mobile dependency can be prevented by identification of individuals at risk and underlying conditions and controlling emotional stresses.