Association Between Cellphone Overuse and Depression Among Medical College Students in Hamadan, West of Iran

Background: Its contact the main reason for the use of mobile phones is especially students living in dormitories. As well as students to communicate in cyber space than in real space of communication are interested, this can threaten their mental health. Objectives: The current study aimed at exploring the amount of mobile phone overuse and determining the association between mobile phone overuse and depression among medical college students in Hamadan, West of Iran. Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted through the stratified sampling method on 300 students residing in dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographic characteristics, the cellphone overuse scale (COS), and the Beck depression inventory. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 using the linear regression analysis, independent t test, and one-way ANOVA. Results: The results showed that 45% of the students use their mobile phone for 3 to 6 hours per day; 32% had excessive use of cellphone. Similarly, 22% of participants had minor depression and 20.7% of the students had moderate depression. Also, the results showed that cellphone overuse significantly promoted depression (ß = 0.351, P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the obtained results, excessive users of cellphones were more depressed. It seems that living in student dormitories provides better conditions for mental disorders. Therefore, it seems necessary to consider the psychological problems of dormitory students.