Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2019 Perceived stress, smartphone dependency, coping behaviors, and psychological well-being among undergraduate students in Malaysia Noradilah Md Nordin Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Md Nordin, Noradilah, "Perceived stress, smartphone dependency, coping behaviors, and psychological well-being among undergraduate students in Malaysia" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 17265. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17265 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Perceived stress, smartphone dependency, coping behaviors, and psychological well-being among undergraduate students in Malaysia by Noradilah Md Nordin A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Human Development and Family Studies Program of Study Committee: Peter Martin, Major Professor Megan Gilligan Jennifer Margrett Tricia Neppl Daniel Russell The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this dissertation. The Graduate College will ensure this dissertation is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2019 Copyright © Noradilah Md Nordin, 2019. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1 Statement of Problem .................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 6 Theoretical Framework.................................................................................................. 6 Life Events, Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being .................................... 13 Coping Behaviors, Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being .......................... 14 Smartphone Dependency, Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being ............... 16 Research Questions...................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 24 Sample ......................................................................................................................... 24 Procedure ..................................................................................................................... 27 Measures ...................................................................................................................... 28 Demographic Variables .......................................................................................... 28 Life Event Scale for Students ................................................................................. 29 Perceived Stress Scale ............................................................................................ 30 Smartphone Addiction Scale .................................................................................. 31 Coping Behaviors Scale ......................................................................................... 32 Psychological Well-Being Scale ............................................................................ 33 Scale Reliability ..................................................................................................... 34 Data Analyses .............................................................................................................. 35 Descriptive Analyses .............................................................................................. 35 Mean Differences ................................................................................................... 36 Correlation Analyses .............................................................................................. 36 Measurement Model ............................................................................................... 37 Structural Model ..................................................................................................... 38 Mediation Analyses ................................................................................................ 39 Moderation Analyses .............................................................................................. 39 Missing Data........................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS .................................................................................................. 41 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................... 41 Social Networking Sites ......................................................................................... 41 Mean Differences ........................................................................................................ 46 iii Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) ............................................................................ 46 Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) .................................................... 50 Bivariate Correlations .................................................................................................. 53 Structural Equation Modeling ..................................................................................... 56 Measurement Model ............................................................................................... 56 Structural Model ..................................................................................................... 59 Mediation................................................................................................................ 63 Moderation ............................................................................................................. 65 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 67 Life Events, Perceived Stress, Smartphone Dependency, Coping Behaviors, and Psychological Well-Being ........................................................................................... 67 Evaluation of the Full Structural Model ...................................................................... 69 Mediation and Moderation Model ............................................................................... 75 Future Directions, Limitations, and Implications ........................................................ 77 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 81 APPENDIX A. IRB APPROVAL .................................................................................... 93 APPENDIX B. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS .............................................. 95 APPENDIX C. LIFE EVENTS SCALE ........................................................................... 97 APPENDIX D. PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE .............................................................. 99 APPENDIX E. SMARTPHONE DEPENDENCY SCALE ........................................... 101 APPENDIX F. COPING BEHAVIORS SCALE ........................................................... 107 APPENDIX G. PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING SCALE ...................................... 112 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 Research Questions and Hypotheses ................................................................... 19 Table 2 Summary of Descriptive Statistics ....................................................................... 26 Table 3 Scale Reliability Coefficient for Study Scales (N =303) ..................................... 34 Table 4 Measurement Model for Perceived Stress, Coping Behaviors, Smartphone Dependency, and Psychological Well-Being ...................................................... 37 Table 5 Frequency of Social Networking Site Use (N = 303) .......................................... 41 Table 6 Summary of Study Variables ............................................................................... 43 Table 7 Frequency of Life Events for Malaysian Undergraduate Students ...................... 45 Table 8 Means and Standard Deviations grouped by Gender, Ethnicity, and Year of Study on Perceived Stress, Psychological Well-Being, and Life