Relationship between perceived time efficacy and excessive use of mobile phone internet in college students

Objective To explore relationships between time management,pressure perception and excessive use of mobile phone internet among college students.Methods A total of 1 488 college students were recruited with stratified cluster sampling from 3 universities in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire under the guidance of psychology teachers during April to June 2014.Results The students with low time management had significantly higher scores for mobile phone internet use time (3.22±0.87 vs. 2.76±0.81),impaired social function related to mobile phone internet use (2.74±0.81 vs. 2.40±0.76),and mobile phone internet use-related tolerance (3.22±0.87 vs. 2.76±0.81) compared to those with high time management (P<0.01 for all).Significant negative correlations were observed between perceived time efficacy and excessive use of mobile phone internet and between pressure perception and time value,time monitoring,time efficacy,and total score of time management disposition scale.Pressure perception had significantly predictive effect positively on excessive use of mobile phone internet(t=6.763,P<0.01) and perceived time efficacy had significantly predictive effect reversely on excessive use of mobile phone internet (t=-4.347,P<0.01).Perceived stress played an intermediary role in the interaction between perceived time efficacy and excessive use of mobile internet.Conclusion The college students with low perceived time efficacy are more likely to have excessive use of mobile phone internet and excessive use of mobile phone internet could be decreased by increasing perceived time efficacy and reducing stress perception among college students.