Behavioural sequela of smartphones usage among secondary school students in Malaysia / Mohd Zdikri Md Sabron

The study aimed to investigate the impact of smartphone usage on the behavior sequela of secondary school students in Malaysia. Despite existing literature on the topic, gaps still existed, particularly within the context of secondary schools in Malaysia. A causal design was used to examine the factors associated with smartphone usage among school students. Five research objectives and research questions were developed to address the issues studied, and data were collected from 862 respondents for quantitative findings and ten participants for the qualitative approach at five public schools in Malaysia. The results revealed that a positive attitude towards smartphone usage was strongly linked with actual behaviour among secondary school students. The environment of smartphones played a significant role in influencing behaviour intention through the mediating effect of attitude. Additionally, the social influence of smartphones had a positive and significant direct effect on behaviour intention through the mediating effect of attitude. The qualitative findings showed that behavior intention was a factor that influenced students' smartphone usage. The overall result indicated that the environment was the key factor driving students to adopt smartphone technology. The study contributed to multiple theoretical perspectives, including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), and Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT). The study's significance lay in its contribution to the practical perspective in the education and policy field, government, academic institutions, schools, parents, society, students, and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). A mixed-method approach was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, validated instruments were used to measure the constructs of interest and different theoretical frameworks were used to investigate the underlying mechanisms driving problematic smartphone usage. These methodological contributions provided a comprehensive understanding of the behavioural sequela of smartphone usage among secondary school students and informed the development ofeffective interventions.