Version 1
: Received: 11 January 2020 / Approved: 12 January 2020 / Online: 12 January 2020 (18:15:25 CET)
How to cite:
Piper, B.J.; Daily, S.M.; Martin, S.L.; Martin, M.W. Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Reduce Cell Phone Use. Preprints2020, 2020010137 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0137.v1).
Piper, B.J.; Daily, S.M.; Martin, S.L.; Martin, M.W. Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Reduce Cell Phone Use. Preprints 2020, 2020010137 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0137.v1).
Cite as:
Piper, B.J.; Daily, S.M.; Martin, S.L.; Martin, M.W. Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Reduce Cell Phone Use. Preprints2020, 2020010137 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0137.v1).
Piper, B.J.; Daily, S.M.; Martin, S.L.; Martin, M.W. Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Reduce Cell Phone Use. Preprints 2020, 2020010137 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0137.v1).
Abstract
Excessive cell phone use contributes to distracted driving, may increase risk for automobile accidents, and a minority of mobile phone users exhibit behaviors consistent with technological addiction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cell phone beliefs and behaviors could be changed by a brief educational encounter. The Theory of Reasoned Action provided a lens for viewing attitudes and behavior. A one-week pre-post design with a thirty-day follow-up was used with participants (N = 215, 67.0% female, age = 20.0 + 1.6) assigned to a peer led intervention or comparison groups. The intervention included cell-phone educational materials. A short index of cell phone behavior was developed which showed good internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .81. The intervention group “agreed” or “strongly-agreed” more than the comparison group on five of the seven areas of cell phone beliefs and behaviors ( p < 0.05, item Cohen’s d = .32 to .47, total d = .50) at one-week following receipt of informational materials. We conclude that attitudes and behaviors regarding cell phones are malleable and susceptible to change in young-adults following a brief psychoeducational intervention.
Keywords
adolescent; behavior; cognition; mobile phone
Subject
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Applied Psychology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
