Correlation between mental health literacy, communication anxiety, and mobile phone dependence among first-year college students

Objective This study aimed to explore the relationship between mental health literacy, communication anxiety, and mobile phone dependence among first-year medical students. Methods We investigated 733 first-year students through the Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV), Mental Health Literacy questionnaire – Short Version for adults (MHLq-SVa), and Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS). Results Mobile phone dependence among first-year college students was 61.8%. Univariate analysis showed that the score of mobile phone dependence was significantly correlated with the degree of social anxiety and the duration of mobile phone use ( P  < 0.001). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that monthly living expenses and social anxiety were positively correlated with mobile phone dependence ( P  < 0.01). Conclusion Mobile phone dependence among first-year college students may be related to monthly living expenses and communication anxiety, but an association with mental health literacy was not found. Clinical trial number not applicable.