Female University Student WSDS Smartphone Dependence Scale Scores Correlate With Actual Use Time of Smartphones

Method

After the protocol received approval from the institutional review board, to 134 female university students, we distributed a set of self-reporting questionnaires designed to evaluate smartphone use. After informed consent was obtained, the participants completed the questionnaire. All respondents possessed smartphones; from 104 of the 108 iPhone users who both possessed iPhones and properly completed each of the questionnaire items, we were able carry out statistical analysis that included Screen Time data. Mean (± SD) age was 20.5 ± 0.5 years.

On the iPhone, Screen Time provides actual-time reports about how much time the user spends doing different things on the iPhone, for example, interacting with apps and visiting websites (Apple Inc., 2020). We examined weekly totals of time that each app was opened and time spent visiting each website. Depending on the type of app or website, we allocated each activity to one of five categories: SNS (social networking service), video sharing sites, online game sites, web sites, and regular phone/mail service (communication other than via SNS). For each category, total times were reckoned.