S. Sasikala* and Ann Mathew
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Madras, Chennai, India
*Email: [email protected]
Abstract: Adolescence is one of the rapid phases of human development; it represents a period of intense growth and change in almost every aspect of a child’s biological, cognitive, social and emotional life. In today’s world, these essential ingredients for growth and change are primarily negatively impacted by new technologies and devices. Researchers have found that psychological stress is one of the major problems of today. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the influence of smartphone use, sleep quality, and self-esteem on depression, anxiety, and stress in adolescents. Smartphone Addiction Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, State Self Esteem Scale, DASS 21- Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were used to collect data from 164 adolescents, including 62 boys and 102 girls. An ex post facto research design and a convenience sampling procedure were used to collect the data. After the data were found to be normally distributed, parametric statistics such as Pearson’s correlation and Regression were used. The results of the study showed that smartphone usage and sleep quality are risk factors for depression, anxiety and stress. In addition, social self-esteem was found to be a protective factor for depression and anxiety. Therefore, this research emphasizes the negative consequences of smartphone addiction and poor sleep quality. In addition, importance must be attached to social self-esteem during adolescence, which helps them reduce psychological distress.
Keywords: Smartphone Usage; Sleep Quality; State Self-Esteem; Depression; Anxiety; Stress.