An Qualitative Meta-Analysis of University Students Experiences in Smartphone Overdependence

Objectives The purposes of this study were to analyze qualitative meta-analysis of university students’ experiences in smartphone overdependence. Though this, we intend to help find alternatives by looking at from various angles and understanding the difficulties of smartphone overdependence experienced by university students. Methods Based on the preceding qualitative meta-synthesis procedures, among the qualitative studies published in Korea on the subject of university students’ experiences in smartphone overdependence, 10 studies to be analyzed were selected for the purpose of this study. Six stages of qualitative meta-synthesis were conducted: selection of topics and research questions, selection of studies, coding and categorization of data, mutual comparative analysis between 3 researchers, derivation of results, comprehensive results and diagraming. By qualitative meta-analysis of 10 qualitative studies, the results were integrated and new meanings were discovered. Results By analyzing the selected studies, the experience of university students’ smartphone overdependence was shown as six major components and examples of each component. The main components were derived as ‘swamp of smartphone convenience’, ‘obsession with smartphone’, ‘recognition of smartphone overdependence’, ‘problem due to smartphone overdependence’, ‘difficulty in self-regulation of smartphone’ and ‘smartphone self-regulation motivation and effort’. Conclusions In the derived process, university students with smartphone overdependence were found to experience a cycle of self-regulation for their problem perception and problem behavior change. Based on this, we need to find ways to respond to university students with smartphone overdependence, and the implications and limitations of this study and suggestion for future study were proposed.