Association Between Smartphone Addiction and Academic Performance Among Rural School Students of Telangana

Introduction The widespread use of smartphones among adolescents has raised concerns about behavioural addiction and its potential academic consequences. However, evidence from rural Indian school-going adolescents is scarce. The current study aims to estimate the prevalence of smartphone addiction and evaluate its association with academic performance among rural adolescents in Telangana. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 students aged 10-19 years from three randomly selected government schools in the Rural Health Training Centre catchment area. Data on sociodemographics and smartphone use were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Smartphone addiction was measured using the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version. The students' academic performance was obtained from school records. Statistical analysis included the chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression. Results The mean age of participants was 14.0 ± 1.33 years. A total of 85.8% (363) participants reported smartphone use, with 32.2% (117) having smartphone addiction. No significant correlation or association was found between smartphone addiction and academic performance (Spearman's rho = 0.06, p=0.178). Smartphone addiction was associated with other variables such as male gender, personal ownership of a smartphone, poor sleep quality, and initiation of smartphone use before the COVID-19 pandemic in multivariable logistic regression analysis. Conclusion Smartphone addiction was prevalent in one-third of rural school-going adolescents and was associated with factors such as male sex, personal smartphone ownership, initiation of use before COVID-19, and poor sleep quality. Our study findings identify factors for school-based awareness programmes and further longitudinal research to promote healthy digital habits among rural adolescents.