Problematic Smartphone Use, Resilience, and Sleep Quality Among College Students in Rural Tamil Nadu: A Cross-Sectional Investigation

Karthikeyan P; Yuganandhini R; Alka Mohanlal K M; Ardra T V

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.80560

Problematic Smartphone Use, Resilience, and Sleep Quality Among College Students in Rural Tamil Nadu: A Cross-Sectional Investigation

Author(s)	Mr Karthikeyan P, Ms. Yuganandhini R, Ms. Alka Mohanlal K M, Ms Ardra T V
Country	India
Abstract	Background: The widespread adoption of smartphones among college students has generated mounting concern about the psychological and behavioural consequences of unregulated use. Problematic smartphone use (PSU) — characterised by a subjective loss of control over device engagement and functional impairment — is now recognised as a significant risk factor for compromised mental health in young adults. Alongside PSU, sleep quality and psychological resilience represent two additional pillars of student well-being that have received considerable but largely isolated empirical attention. The extent to which these three constructs interact, particularly in the Indian higher-education context, remains poorly understood. Objectives: This study aimed to (1) examine the bivariate relationships among PSU, sleep quality, and resilience in a sample of Indian college students; and (2) assess the moderating influence of sociodemographic characteristics — including gender, birth order, domicile, marital status, education level, degree stream, and family income — on these variables. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative survey was administered to a convenience sample of 404 college students aged 20–22 years from arts and science colleges in rural Tamil Nadu. Three validated self-report instruments were employed: the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire – Short Version (PMPUQ-SV; Billieux et al., 2008), the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS; Yi et al., 2006), and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale – 10 items (CD-RISC-10; Campbell-Sills & Stein, 2007). Group differences were analysed using independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs; bivariate associations were examined using Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results: Female students reported significantly higher smartphone use (p = .015) and psychological resilience (p = .046) than male students, but sleep quality did not differ by gender. Family income was significantly associated with smartphone use (p < .001), with middle-income students demonstrating the highest engagement. Birth order significantly predicted sleep quality (p = .025), with first-born students recording the highest disturbance scores. Degree stream was significantly associated with resilience (p = .027). Pearson's correlations revealed a significant negative association between PSU and resilience (r = −.136, p < .01) and a significant positive association between sleep quality and resilience (r = .138, p < .01). No significant direct relationship emerged between PSU and sleep quality (r = .075, p > .05). Conclusion: PSU appears to erode psychological resilience rather than impairing sleep quality directly, while restorative sleep independently reinforces resilience capacity. These findings point to complementary intervention targets — mindful digital habits and sleep hygiene — as strategies for bolstering psychological resilience among young adults in Indian higher education.
Keywords	problematic smartphone use; sleep quality; psychological resilience; college students; India; digital well-being; cross-sectional study
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-06-10
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.80560

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Problematic Smartphone Use, Resilience, and Sleep Quality Among College Students in Rural Tamil Nadu: A Cross-Sectional Investigation

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