The Relationship between Smartphone Addiction and Academic Performance in College Students

OBJECTIVES: Smartphone addiction is a growing concern that can impact social, psychological, and health, while contributing to functional impairments. This study aimed to determine the relationship between smartphone addiction and the grade point average (GPA) of undergraduate college students in the U.S.

METHODS: This descriptive study consisted of 53 undergraduate college students. The Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) and overall grade point average (GPA) was gathered via survey. The data was analyzed through Pearson’s correlation to demonstrate the association between these variables.

FINDINGS: While not statistically significant at the α = .05 level, the results suggest an almost statistically significant negative correlation (r = -0.210, p = .066) indicating a weak but noteworthy association between smartphone addiction and GPA.

CONCLUSION: Smartphone addiction is a growing concern that has shown to impact quality of life in Asian countries. These results suggest further research with larger samples in the U.S. is needed to inform college students of the risks smartphone addiction can have on academic success.