The Correlation between Use of Smartphone and Family Relationship in Uthaimai Subdistrict, Muang Uthaithani District, Uthaithani Province

Abstract

The quantitative research aimed to study the correlation between the use of smartphone and family relationship in Uthaimai Subdistrict, Muang Uthai Thani District, Uthai Thani Province. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 households and multiple regression analysis was used for data analyses. The study discovered the use of smartphones was associated with family relationships. The average number of smartphones per household was 3, each person in the household had one. Most the household members often use a smartphone during household activities (46%). The average use of smartphone per day per person was 3.18 hours. In terms of family relationships, If the household had an additional number of smartphones, the household would have a 1.9 increase in the family relationship score (β=1.867, p-value= 0.008). If one more person in the household using Facebook, households will have a 0.8 increase in the family relationship score (β=0.751, p-value= 0.045). On the other hand, if each person in a household used an additional one hour of smartphones, the household would have a 0.5 score drop in family relationships (β= -0.539, p-value= 0.049). Therefore, in addition to the benefits of entertainment smartphones can also be used to communicate with household members via Facebook messages to strengthen family relationships. Household members should have an appropriate time allocation for using their smartphones, while they are together.