Sustainable Education and University Students’ Well-Being in the Digital Age: A Mixed-Methods Study on Problematic Smartphone Use

In the digital age, smartphone use among university students has become problematic, with implications for education and personal well-being. This study aimed to investigate research directions on problematic smartphone use among students, gaps in the field, and emerging research directions, along with validating the data among some Romanian students, as a preliminary perspective. The first part of the study included a bibliometric investigation using the Web of Science Core Collection database and version 1.6.20 of the VOSviewer software; 593 papers were validated for the period 2007–2025 (5 February), which allowed us to analyze author networks, citations, keywords, and collaborations. The second part of the research was based on a cross-sectional study to capture the particularities of this phenomenon among some Romanian students. Smartphone use also appears to be problematic among the Romanian surveyed students, as is the international trend; the responses of the surveyed students show the existence of compulsive behavior towards smartphone use, which suggests a self-control conflict. This comprehensive investigation allows for the prediction of trends and provides relevant information for future research, as well as serving as a basis for political and academic decisions, for sustainable digital transformation within universities and to the achievement of sustainable education.