Associations between smartphone addiction, anxiety, depression, and academic performance among university students

In today’s globalized world, technology significantly influences daily life. While it offers convenience, it also brings challenges. The growing prevalence of smartphone use has raised concerns regarding smartphone addiction. This study examined the relationship between smartphone addiction, anxiety, depression, and academic performance among university students. A total of 1,846 students (1,362 females and 484 males; mean age = 19.62 ± 1.11) participated by completing an online questionnaire that included the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Malay version (SAS-M), Beck Anxiety Inventory-Malay version (BAI-M), and Beck Depression Inventory-Malay version (BDI-M). Findings revealed that higher levels of smartphone addiction were significantly associated with greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. In contrast, no direct association was observed between smartphone addiction and academic performance. These results indicate that while smartphone addiction may not directly impair academic performance, it poses substantial risks to students’ psychological well-being. Intervention programs are necessary to promote digital well-being and reduce the psychological impact of excessive smartphone use among students. Given the cross-sectional design and the absence of several potentially important confounding and mediating variables, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary and warrant confirmation in future longitudinal and multivariable studies.