PREDICTION OF SMARTPHONE ADDICTION IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION AND SELF-CONTROL LEVELS

The aim of this study is to examine whether academic procrastination and self-control predict smartphone addiction among university students. In addition, it seeks to contribute to identifying numerical thresholds related to smartphone addiction in terms of daily usage time and frequency of checking the device. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the relationships among these three variables and whether gender creates significant differences in these variables. The study was conducted with 320 students (219 females, 101 males) continuing their university education in Turkey. The data collection tools used in the research include the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form, Aitken Academic Procrastination Inventory, Brief Self-Control Scale, and a personal information form. The data were analyzed using Independent Samples T-Test, One-Way ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, and Regression techniques. According to the findings, there was a significant positive relationship between smartphone addiction and academic procrastination tendency, and a significant negative relationship between smartphone addiction and self-control. Additionally, no significant difference was observed in smartphone addiction based on gender; however, significant differences were identified in relation to daily smartphone usage time and the number of daily checks. Beyond these relational results, regression analyses revealed that academic procrastination significantly predicted smartphone addiction, while self-control was found to be a marginal predictor. The findings were interpreted in light of the relevant literature, and suggestions were offered to inform future research.