Evaluating the Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Mental Health of Pregnant Females

Abstract

Smartphone is a very small device, it contains the features of both, computer, and a mobile phone. Many people rely on this smaller device to carry out their regular tasks (e.g. shopping, communication, for entertainment purposes). In 2020, that was a very huge impact of COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. The WHO (World Health Organization, 2020) recommended staying at home, working at home, social distancing etc. This work from home part increased the usage of these advanced technologies among almost all age groups. According to CDC, mental health is a key at each stage of our life. “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps to determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices”. Social wellbeing is an aspect of mental health. It is defined as continuing with healthy relationships and having genuine and significant interactivity. Another feature of mental health is emotional well-being in which it depends on how you feel and handle normal pressures of your life. If you are happy with your normal life situations, it means there is not any absence of psychological well-being. Pregnancy is a time, which is satisfying but also demanding. Although pregnancy is considered as a positive time in almost every woman’s life, they also suffer from distress about changes in their physical appearance and concern about their attachment with their baby. This research will be analyzing the effect of social, emotional, and psychological well-being of pregnant females. There are a lot of research done on the smartphone addiction, impact of smartphone addiction on mental health of youngsters and children etc., but there is no recent research on smartphone addiction impact on pregnant females. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of pregnant females which is not highlighted in our society. Illiteracy also plays a vital role in increasing adverse pregnancy outcomes. Pregnant females are not even aware about what they are doing or what is good or bad for their health. Although the total sample size was estimated to be 187 by using Rao soft sample size calculator. We approached almost 250 pregnant females. Some women denied filling the questionnaire while the one woman said that let me get the permission from my husband and then she gave us information. The data was orally gathered from illiterate women. Most of the reviews from females were like that our questionnaire is too lengthy. At the end, data was collected from 200 females and analyzed on statistical package for social sciences SPSS version 22. We had four hypotheses in our research which are shown in 9 the Table 4.7. All hypotheses are accepted because our data shows a strong relation between all the variables. Every study has its limitations which are very important to mention so that they can be solved in future studies. This study also has some limitations which are important to highlight. The response rate was somewhat low. Women mostly ignore the questionnaires and can’t fill them, and we must remind them time to time. which was very problematic in this study. Pregnant women should know about the harmful effects of smartphone addiction. The awareness sessions should be conducted by government or non-governmental organizations in which not only pregnant women, but every younger generation should be involved. Awareness sessions should not only be about smartphone addiction but also should be about its impact on mental health. The results of this study may be useful to plan and manage the issues related to smartphone addiction. Moreover, this study will be helpful for the awareness of pregnant females regarding the impact of smartphone addiction on their mental health.