The effect of midwifery students’ phubbing behaviors on communication skills in Türkiye

Aim

To evaluate the impact of midwifery students' phubbing behaviors on their communication skills.

Background

Phubbing behaviors mean ignoring someone in a social setting by focusing on a phone instead, which may threaten verbal and non-verbal communication skills. These issues are particularly critical in professions where communication is paramount, such as midwifery, nursing and medicine.

Design

A cross-sectional, correlational study.

Methods

The study involved 566 undergraduate midwifery students from all year levels at a state university in Samsun city, between March and June 2023, resulting in a response rate of 89.55 %. Data were collected through the sociodemographic information form, the Generic Scale of Phubbing and the Communication Skills Scale. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and linear regression.

Results

The midwifery students had a mean age of 20.67 ± 1.91. Total phubbing behaviors were a negative and significant predictor of communication skills (β= −0.127; t = -3.041; p = .002). According to the multiple regression analysis, The Generic Scale of Phubbing- Nomophobia sub-dimension predicted communication skills positively (β= 0.200; t = 4.457; p = .000); Interpersonal Conflict predicted communication skills negatively (β = −0.214; t = -4.212; p = .000).

Conclusions

This study found a negative relationship between midwifery students’ phubbing behaviors and their communication skills. The study findings suggest that the impact of phubbing on communication skills is complex and multifaceted, with each sub-dimension potentially affecting communication skills in distinct ways.