Addiction-Like Mobile Phone Behavior - Validation and Association With Problem Gambling

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Mobile phone addiction is a growing concern.
• Understanding the relationship between mobile phone use and other behavioral issues is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• Translate and validate the Test of Mobile Dependence (TMD) in a Swedish population.
• Investigate associations between mobile phone dependence and problem gambling.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study with 1,515 participants from the Swedish general population.
• Utilized a questionnaire including the translated TMD, problem gambling screener (NODS-CLiP), and addiction history.
• Employed exploratory factor analysis, T-tests, Mann-Whitney test, logistic regression, and ANOVA.

Main Results:

• The TMD demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.905) and correlated with subjective mobile phone dependence.
• Women and adolescents (15-18 years) reported higher TMD scores.
• TMD scores were significantly associated with problem gambling after controlling for age and sex.

Conclusions:

• The translated TMD is a reliable measure for assessing mobile phone dependence.
• A potential association exists between mobile phone use patterns and problem gambling, warranting further investigation.
• Future research should include confirmatory factor analysis for the TMD.