[Development and Effect of a Smartphone Overdependence Prevention Program for University Students Based on Self-Determination Theory]

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a smartphone overdependence prevention program for college students based on the self-determination theory (SDT) and evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods: A non-equivalent control group repeated measures design was used for the study. Participants were 64 university freshmen (experimental group: 29, control group: 35). The developed program consists of eight sessions conducted twice a week. The program was designed to promote autonomy, competence, and relatedness the three elements of the basic psychological needs of self-determination theory. The participants were assessed before the program, immediately after, and 1 and 3 months after the program. Data were collected from April 23 to September 14, 2018 and analyzed by performing a Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS/WIN 23.0.

Results: This study showed improvement in the basic psychological needs (F=3.90, p=.010) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Specifically, competence (F=2.93, p=.035), relatedness (F=2.89, p=.045), and self-regulatory ability (F=3.11, p=.028) improved significantly.

Conclusion: Study findings indicate that the smartphone overdependence prevention program based on the Self-determination theory could be an effective intervention for improving basic psychological needs and self-regulation ability. Therefore, this program could be an efficient strategy for smartphone overdependence prevention in university students.