The Effect of Midwifery Students' Phubbing Behaviors on Communication Skills in Türkiye

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the impact of midwifery students' phubbing behaviors on their communication skills. Background: Phubbing behaviors mean ignoring someone in a social setting by focusing on a phone instead, which may threaten verbal and non-verbal communication skills. These issues are particularly critical in professions where communication is paramount, such as midwifery, nursing and medicine. Design: A cross-sectional, correlational study. Methods: The study involved 566 undergraduate midwifery students from all year levels at a state university in Samsun city, between March and June 2023, resulting in a response rate of 89.55 %. Data were collected through the sociodemographic information form, the Generic Scale of Phubbing and the Communication Skills Scale. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and linear regression. Results: The midwifery students had a mean age of 20.67 +/- 1.91. Total phubbing behaviors were a negative and significant predictor of communication skills ((3= -0.127; t = -3.041; p = .002). According to the multiple regression analysis, The Generic Scale of Phubbing- Nomophobia sub-dimension predicted communication skills positively ((3= 0.200; t = 4.457; p = .000); Interpersonal Conflict predicted communication skills negatively ((3 = -0.214; t = -4.212; p = .000). Conclusions: This study found a negative relationship between midwifery students' phubbing behaviors and their communication skills. The study findings suggest that the impact of phubbing on communication skills is complex and multifaceted, with each sub-dimension potentially affecting communication skills in distinct ways.