Abstract
Smartphones extend people's opportunities by improving their daily living and well-being. Hence, given the tool’s features and affordances that promote human development, smartphones facilitate the achievement of the individual liberties and freedoms of ordinary people. However, there are serious concerns about the emotional, social and cultural factors underlying smartphone usage patterns and their association with problematic use and depressive behaviors. Therefore, the overriding goal of the research reported on in this paper was to investigate how smartphone use influences individuals’ emotional wellness, interpersonal relationships and sociocultural contexts. Existing academic literature indicated that there was a need to investigate the intricate interplay between smartphone use and indicators of problematic behaviors. Hence, undergraduate students were invited to participate and a mixed-methods research approach was adopted. Data were collected using a prescreening questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions and were analyzed thematically by means of a systematic coding process. The data revealed that smartphone users have many different perspectives and coping strategies and this finding highlighted the complexities of smartphone-related problems. Furthermore, the study underlined the importance of cultural factors and individual differences in addressing the complex relationship between smartphone use and digital wellness.
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