Mobile Phones Dependency and Psychological Wellbeing of Students in Selected Secondary Schools in Nairobi County- Kenya

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.