Consequences of Using Smartphone Technology in University Students: Experiencing Challenges

The dramatic increase in prevalence of cell phone use, especially among adolescents and young people, is a growing concern among many experts about the harmful effects of cell phones. The present study aimed to explore the consequences and challenges of the application of this technology from the perspective of university students. In this qualitative study, participants were 32 students of nursing, midwifery, and paramedicine in East Guilan, Iran, who were selected purposefully and with maximum variation. Data were collected using 11 semi-structured interviews and 3 focus group discussions. All interviews were continued till data saturation was occurred. Data analysis was done using conventional content analysis approach. Three themes and 11 subthemes were extracted from the qualitative analysis. The themes were as “physical-psychological stresses” with 4 subthemes of physical problems, disturbed comfort, information security concerns, and progressive dependence, “decreased performance” with 3 subthemes of decline in academic performance, depleted energy, and wasting time, and “drowning in the virtual world” with 4 subthemes of away from the real world, unhealthy relationship, blind imitation, and luxury-oriented, and lying. “In the virtual turbulence” was designated as the main theme. Based on the students' experiences, appropriate cultural planning is necessary with approaches such as mass media education, early childhood education, and education before entering the technologies with the aim of properly usage of these technologies.