Journal of School Mental Health
Online ISSN : 2433-1937
Print ISSN : 1344-5944
Development of a Decisional Balance Scale for Mobile Email Use among University Students
Mitsuhiro AMAZAKIChihiro KEMURIYAMAYasuo SHIMIZU
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2009 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 81-86

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a Decisional Balance Scale for Mobile Email use among University Students and to conduct a mobile phone user survey at a Japanese university. Japanese university students (N=253) were distributed questionnaires in January 2009. This questionnaire was composed of socio-demographical items, mobile phone user survey items (frequency of using various functions, average cost per month, average of sending and receiving emails) and 38 items of a decisional balance scale for mobile email use (DBS-ME) which were collected from a preliminary survey. The mean score of mobile phone user survey items were calculated. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach's alpha reliability analyses were conducted in developing the DBS-ME. The mobile phone user survey results showed that 1) email was used more often than any other function, 2) the average monthly charge for using a mobile phone was 9576.67 Japanese Yen, 3) the average number of emails that the subjects sent out per day was 19.65, 4) the average number of emails that subjects received per day was 22.79. Upon applying EFA and CFA a two-factor solution with fourteen items and acceptable structural validity was identified. Each of the factors demonstrated acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha reliability values. The results of this study showed that DBS-ME can be useful in assessing the decisional balance for Mobile Email use among Japanese university students. In future research, the association between DBS-ME and mental health should be analyzed.

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© 2009 The Japan Association for School Mental Health
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