Effects of materialism on problematic smartphone dependency among adolescents: The role of gender and gratifications

Materialism and Problematic Social Network Sites Use Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Self-Control

Prior studies have ascertained some risk factors of problematic social network sites use (PSNSU). Nevertheless, few research has examined the potential impact of materialism on PSNSU, as well as underlying mechanisms between this relationship. The present study investigated whether materialism would be linked with adolescents' PSNSU and whether self-esteem and self-control would mediate them. A sample of 1238 Chinese adolescents (53.6% females) completed measurements regarding demographics, materialism, PSNSU, self-esteem, and self-control. After controlling for gender and age, the results indicated that: (a) materialism was positively correlated with PSNSU; (b) materialism can indirectly affect PSNSU through the mediating effects of self-control; and (c) materialism can indirectly affect PSNSU through the sequential mediating role of self-esteem and self-control. These findings not only provide a new perspective for the cultivation of adolescents' values, but also contribute an important driving force for the prevention and intervention of adolescents' PSNSU in the information technology era.

The unique role of smartphone addiction and related factors among university students: a model based on cross-sectional and cross-lagged network analyses

Smartphone addiction is a global problem affecting university students. Previous studies have explored smartphone addiction and related factors using latent variables. In contrast, this study examines the role of smartphone addiction and related factors among university students using a cross-sectional and cross-lagged panel network analysis model at the level of manifest variables. A questionnaire method was used to investigate smartphone addiction and related factors twice with nearly six-month intervals among 1564 first-year university students (M = 19.14, SD = 0.66). The study found that procrastination behavior, academic burnout, self-control, fear of missing out, social anxiety, and self-esteem directly influenced smartphone addiction. Additionally, smartphone addiction predicted the level of self-control, academic burnout, social anxiety, and perceived social support among university students. Self-control exhibited the strongest predictive relationship with smartphone addiction. Overall, self-control, self-esteem, perceived social support, and academic burnout were identified as key factors influencing smartphone addiction among university students. Developing prevention and intervention programs that target these core influencing factors would be more cost-effective.

Factors impacting the use of the NZ COVID Tracer application in New Zealand"

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly created devastating damage on world economics and public health. This project identifies key concerns of end-users toward the NZ COVID-19 contact tracing app in New Zealand. The key research objective in this study is to understand the usage behaviour towards the mobile application NZ COVID-19 Tracer used for contact tracing purposes. Secondly, the study explores the reasons for using the contact tracing app. Thirdly, it examines the relationship between usage behaviour of the NZ-COVID Tracer app with age, the user's perceived health, attitude towards COVID-19, whether family or friends are infected by COVID-19, trust in maintaining social distancing, trust in data privacy, smartphone usage and the media's role in motivating people to use this app. Consequently, understanding these issues and challenges could help improve the usage of this contact tracing app, which in turn would contribute to better public health outcomes in disease management and containment. Findings of the study reveals that age, smartphone usage behaviour, and trust in privacy data protection from the app provider has a statistically significant relationship on usage behaviour of the NZ COVID Tracer app. Self-perceived health status and attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant relationship on NZ COVID Tracer app usage behaviour. While social media, such as Facebook, has been shown to be the most popular source of news for COVID-19 among New Zealanders, it is television that acted as a motivational tool to encourage people to use the contact tracing mobile application and to practice other measures to help protect against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association between the Perceived Household Financial Decline Due to COVID-19 and Smartphone Dependency among Korean Adolescents

This cross-sectional study identified the association between COVID-19-related perceived household financial decline and smartphone dependency among adolescents in South Korea. Data from the 2020 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of Korea was used and 54,809 middle and high school students were included. COVID-19-related perceived household financial decline was categorized as no financial decline, mild, moderate, and severe. Smartphone dependency was calculated by 10 questions and was largely categorized as yes and no, and as normal, low, and high (prevalence rate: 25.0%). Binary and multinomial regression analyses were performed to analyze the association. The more severe the financial decline, the more pronounced the risk of high-risk smartphone dependency (mild financial decline: odds ratio (OR) 1.11, 95% CI 0.96-1.28; moderate: OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.04-1.43; severe: OR 2.56, 95% CI 2.06-3.17). Poor family relationships (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.10) and severe social conflict (OR 2.99, 95% CI 2.50-3.58) were also related to smartphone dependency. The ORs were 2.63 with more than three bathrooms and 1.63 with their own bedroom. Smartphone dependency among adolescents is closely related to COVID-19-related perceived household financial decline. As smartphone dependency relates to complicated psychological issues, further evaluation is necessary, especially for vulnerable adolescents.

Materialism, conspicuous consumption, and brand engagement in self-concept: a study of teenagers

BACKGROUND

Contemporary adolescents, also known as Generation Z, are an important group of consumers due to the role they play in today's economy. The present study investigates the relationship between materialism and brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) and whether conspicuous consumption is a mediator of this relationship in early, middle, and late adolescence.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

The participants were 581 students from Poland, aged 13 to 17 (M = 15 years, SD = 1.42); 51.6% of them were girls. Data were gathered using a demographic information form, the Youth Materialism Scale, the Conspicuous Consumption Scale, and a BESC Scale, completed during personal interviews.

RESULTS

The study indicated an association of higher materialism and higher conspicuous consumption with a higher level of BESC, where conspicuous consumption acts as a mediator of the correlation between materialism and BESC. Age also moderates this mediation, i.e., the older the teenagers are, the weaker is the analyzed mediation effect.

CONCLUSIONS

The research is part of an essential step in understanding the mechanism of BESC by testing a moderated mediation model in teenagers.

Assessing Mobile Phone Attachment: Validation of the Mobile Attachment Questionnaire in Turkish University Students and Examination of Related Variables

The main aim of this study was to adapt the Mobile Attachment Questionnaire (MAQ) to Turkish culture. It was also aimed to investigate whether mobile phone attachment (MPA) exists in Turkish university students and whether it has the main characteristics of interpersonal attachment. This study also aimed to investigate the MPA's relationship with nomophobia, smartphone addiction and materialism, and to examine the predictive power of them on MPA. The study group consisted of a total of 242 university students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the structural validity of the MAQ-TR. The goodness of fit indices met the model fit requirements for the four-factor 13-item MAQ-TR. Reliability analyses results provided high internal consistency coefficients. Correlation analyses results showed that individuals highly attached to their phones experienced more severe symptoms of nomophobia and smartphone addiction and materialists were more likely to accept their phones as attachment object. Regression analysis showed that nomophobia, smartphone addiction and materialism were significant predictors of MPA. Given that MPA is an understudied concept, this study provides a starting point for future researches on problematic and non-problematic phone use.

Youths' Habitual Use of Smartphones Alters Sleep Quality and Memory: Insights from a National Sample of Chinese Students

A growing body of work has been devoted to studying the smartphone addiction in youths and its impact on their lives, but less is known about the predictors and effects of youth habitual use of smartphones. Guided by social cognitive theory, this study investigates how habitual smartphone use affects sleep quality and everyday memory based on a nationally representative sample of Chinese students (N = 2298). It uses a cluster-randomized sampling with stratification of different areas, consisting of both urban and rural students aged 6–18 years from elementary, middle, and high schools across China. It found that Chinese students exhibited a habitual smartphone use, who were generally confident in using mobile devices, but few had smartphone addiction. Significant gender and age differences were identified concerning the habitual use of smartphone. Specifically, boys demonstrated higher levels of habitual use and smartphone self-efficacy than the girls. High school students showed the highest level of habitual smartphone use compared to those in elementary and middle schools. Smartphone use duration, frequency, and self-efficacy predicted the habitual use, which also led to poorer sleep quality and worse memory outcomes. Prebedtime exposure moderated the relationship between habitual smartphone uses and sleep quality. The results show that students’ habitual smartphone use had a significant impact on their health, cognition and more, even when they exhibited little smartphone addiction. The findings contribute to a better understanding of smartphone impact on school-age youths.

Contact tracing apps and values dilemmas: A privacy paradox in a neo-liberal world

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Contact tracing as an extreme case of the privacy paradox: which values?

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Present benefits: freedom of movement, not morally responsible.

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Future risks: privacy, habituation to security policies and health.

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In crisis situations, contact tracing apps contribute to self-disciplining.

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French government plays on the paradox and downplays long term concerns.

Contact tracing apps are presented as a solution, if not the solution, to curb pandemics in the Covid-19 crisis. In France, despite heated public institutional debate on privacy related issues, the app was presented by government as an essential benefit for protecting health and lives, thus avoiding both politicians and citizens to feel morally responsible and looking guilty, and as essential to recover our freedom to move. However we argue that, while detection of cases have still not been reported after 10 days and one million app downloads - a situation comparable to Australia who launched its app a month before -, the adoption of the app generates important risks to our informational privacy, surveillance and habituation to security policies. It also may create discrimination, distrust and generate other health problems such as addiction and others as 5G technology continues to be deployed without prior impact studies. Finally the smartphone app against covid epidemics appears as an extreme case of the privacy paradox where the government plays on the immediate benefits and downplays long-term concerns while inducing a technology of self. Contact tracing apps may become an emblematic case for digital transformation and value changes in the western world.

Digital transformation of everyday life - How COVID-19 pandemic transformed the basic education of the young generation and why information management research should care?

Children of today have been surrounded by digital technology since their birth. However, children of today are not equally equipped for their technology rich future: various kinds of digital divides still prevail in the society and affect the young generation and their digital futures. Schools and education of children should undergo an extensive digital transformation to be able to meet the needs of the young generation and their digitalized future. The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and abruptly forced schools and education indeed to engage in such a transformation. In this study we examine the digital transformation initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic in the basic education of the young generation, the variety of digital divides emerging and reinforced, and the possible barriers reported along the way. We argue that information management research should better acknowledge children, their digitalized everyday life and their basic education as significant areas of concern. We should understand them as well as allow them to shape the education we offer in the context of higher education, but we should also aim at influencing the basic education of the young generation - for the purpose of equipping them with important skills and competencies for their digital futures but also for the purpose of arousing their interest in this important field, maybe even as a career option.