Abstract:
The use of mobile phones among secondary school
students is of concern when looking at the increase of violent
behaviors in schools. The mobile phone use and the psychological
wellbeing of secondary school students has become an issue of
interest for research. The aim of this study was to assess the
relationship between the time spent on mobile phone use and the
psychological wellbeing of secondary school students in Nairobi
County, Kenya. The study used an embedded mixed method
research design. A Multistage sampling method was employed in
selecting the 7 schools, and the sample size of 357 respondents.
Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using
descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson’s Product Moment
Correlation Coefficients was used for data analysis. The main
findings of this study showed a strong positive correlation
between time spent on the use of mobile phones and the
psychological wellbeing of secondary school students (0.885). The
study also found out that there was a strong positive correlation
between time spent on the mobile phones and the aspect of
personal growth (0.985) and the self-acceptance (0.980). There
was a moderate positive correlation between time spent on the
use of mobile phones and the environmental mastery (0.60), the
purpose in life (0.528) and the positive relations with others
(0.457). There was a weak positive correlation between time
spent on the use of mobile phones and the autonomy (0.004). The
study recommends that the school administration should
establish counselling facilities which can address the issues
related to mobile phones use among secondary school students.
