The Effects of Smartphone Addiction on Marital Adjustment of Partners

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of smartphone dependency in communication conflicts between partners during marital adjustment. The study sample consisted of 428 married family physicians and health care workers working at Samsun Public Health Directorship in January and February, 2017. The Smartphone Dependency Scale and the Marital Satisfaction Scale were used as data collection instruments of the study. The data was analyzed using the relational scanning model, which is designed to describe the current situation. The independent variable of the study was smartphone usage levels of married individuals while the dependent variable was marital adjustment. The average age of the participants was 40.46. The data was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis methods. To the study findings, there was not a specific smartphone dependency amongst the participating health care workers, but still they experienced problems in marital adjustment. There was an inverse, weak and negative relation between marital adjustment and smartphone dependency (p=0.006, correlation coefficient -0.133) and there was a positive relation between smartphone dependency and age. As the study results indicated, the scores from the Smartphone Dependency Scale were seen to differ in terms of age and gender. Also, the communication conflicts between partners about smartphone dependency played a negative role in marital adjustment. © The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.