2026 ECNP Congress

PS01-1050

Relationship between emotional disorders, problematic smartphone use, and smartphone addiction in the medical academic environment

Alexandra Mihailescu — B.C. Selaru, L.V. Diaconescu, O. Popa-Velea, C. Mihailescu · University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, Medical Psychology, Bucharest, Romania

2026 ECNP Congress

Background

Medical students are a vulnerable group at risk for emotional disorders like depression and anxiety due to prolonged academic stress and performance pressures. In this context, the excessive use of smartphones has become a potentially maladaptive coping mechanism, with increasing evidence linking problematic smartphone use (PSU) to poor mental health outcomes[1]. Fear of missing out (FoMO), impulsivity, sleep quality, and psychological resilience (i.e., grit, life satisfaction - SWLS) may modulate this relationship[2,3]. Still, their impact is inadequately defined in Romanian medical student populations.

Objectives

This study aimed to (1) establish the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction among students of the Faculty of Medicine, UMFCD; (2) examine associations between PSU and emotional disorder severity; (3) evaluate the role of grit as a mediator between PSU and emotional symptoms; and (4) identify typological clusters of smartphone users based on psychological profiles.

Methods

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted using a composite, self-administered online questionnaire distributed via social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram) to students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine“Carol Davila, Bucharest. Of 366 responses collected, 270 had questionnaires completely filled-in. The battery included: SAS-SV (smartphone addiction scale), GAD-7 (anxiety), PHQ-9 (depression), PSQI (sleep quality), FoMO Scale, GRIT Scale, SWLS (satisfaction with life), BIS-11 (impulsivity), Phubbing Scale, and PSS-14 (perceived stress). Data were analysed using SPSS-26, including Pearson correlations, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and K-Means Cluster analysis.

Results

The sample comprised 270 valid respondents (mean age 21 years, SD = 2.28; 74.8% female). A total of 60.7% of participants met criteria for smartphone addiction on the SAS-SV. 38.3% presented clinically significant anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 ≥ 10) and 51.4% met the threshold for clinically significant depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10). Smartphone addiction (SAS-SV) showed significant positive correlations with depression (PHQ-9: r = .486, p < .001) and anxiety (GAD-7: r = .409, p < .001), with FoMO (r = .527, p < .001) and impulsivity/BIS-11 (r = .286, p < .001), while GRIT (r = −.269, p < .001) and life satisfaction/SWLS (r = −.193, p < .001) showed significant negative correlations indicating protective roles. Cluster analysis identified distinct typological groups differentiated by digital behaviour, emotional regulation, and resilience profiles. Two distinct student profiles emerged: Cluster 1 (n = 174) high SAS-SV (M = 42), high GAD-7 (M = 11), high FoMO (M = 31), high PSS (M = 39), and more smartphone time (M = 5.96 h/day); Cluster 2 (n = 192) lower scores across all measures (SAS-SV M = 26, GAD-7 M = 6, FoMO M = 20, PSS M = 35, M = 4.98 h/day). ANOVA test confirmed that perceived stress (PSS) was the variable that differed significantly between clusters (p = .001).

Conclusion

The present study indicates a high prevalence of smartphone addiction and clinically significant emotional disturbances in Romanian medical students. We consider that systematic screening for problematic smartphone use and the integration of mental health support initiatives into the medical education program are likely to be beneficial in this population.

References

  1. Geng Y, Gu J, Wang J, Zhang R. Smartphone addiction and depression, anxiety: the role of bedtime procrastination and self-control. J Affect Disord. 2021;293:415–21. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.062.
  2. Elhai JD, Yang H, Fang J, Bai X, Hall BJ. Depression and anxiety symptoms are related to problematic smartphone use severity in Chinese young adults: fear of missing out as a mediator. Addict Behav. 2020;101:105962. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.04.020.
  3. Elhai JD, Gallinari EF, Rozgonjuk D, Yang H. Depression, anxiety and fear of missing out as correlates of social, non-social and problematic smartphone use. Addict Behav. 2020;105:106335. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106335.