The Triad of Smartphone Addiction, Sleep Deprivation, and Anxiety among Health Science Undergraduates: A Structural Equation Modeling Study

Abstract

Addictions to smartphones, sleep deprivation, and anxiety have become more common in college students. However, their mutual interaction has not been comprehensively studied within the realm of allied health science education. Being enrolled in health science programs young adults experience particular psychological and educational challenges which make them predisposed to maladaptive usage of technology and related negative outcomes in terms of mental health. In particular, the interaction of smartphone addiction, sleep deprivation, and anxiety is studied in order to understand the mediating role of smartphone addiction as an upstream risk factor of sleep insufficiency and anxiety during early stages of allied health science education. This is a quantitative study that will explore the triangular interaction of smartphone addiction, sleep deprivation, and anxiety among undergraduate students. It is especially important to explore whether sleep deprivation mediates the connection between smartphone addiction and anxiety.