Relationship between Lifestyle and Self-Reported Smartphone Addiction in adolescents in the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study

Exploring the Link Between Smartphone Overdependence, Depression, and Suicidal Behaviors Through the Mediating Effect of Lifestyle Risk Behaviors Among South Korean Adolescents: A Cross-sectional Study Using National Big Data

INTRODUCTION

This study examined how lifestyle risk behaviors mediate the relationship between smartphone overdependence, depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior in adolescents.

METHOD

Based on a secondary analysis of national survey data obtained in 2020 in South Korea, this study had 54,948 participating adolescents. Multiple logistic regression and mediating effect analyses were used to assess the relationships between the study variables.

RESULTS

Adolescents' lifestyle risk behaviors partially mediated the link between smartphone overdependence and depression (Z = 6.86, p < .001), suicidal ideation (Z = 7.04, p < .001), and suicidal planning (Z = 4.59, p < .001).

DISCUSSION

This is the first study to examine the mediating role of comprehensive lifestyle behaviors, not single habits, in the relationship between smartphone overdependence, depression, and suicidal behaviors. Encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviors in adolescents can help alleviate the link between smartphone overdependence and mental health problems.

Association between smartphone overdependence and mental health in South Korean adolescents: a secondary data analysis

PURPOSE

The rising prevalence of smartphone overdependence among adolescents and its detrimental impact on mental health have become a growing concern. This study aimed to investigate the association between smartphone overdependence and the mental health of Korean adolescents.

METHODS

Participants were drawn from the 16th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey conducted in 2020. The dependent variable as smartphone overdependence, while the main exposure of interest was mental health, encompassing generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), perceived stress, sources of perceived stress, perceived loneliness, and perceived depressive symptoms. The study employed the Rao-Scott chi-square test and multiple logistic regression using IBM SPSS version 26.0.

RESULTS

The participants comprised 54,948 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. Among them, 25.1% (n=13,775) were categorized as smartphone overdependence group. Specifically, 20.3% of adolescents who reported GAD ≥10 and 22.5% of those who reported experiencing high levels of perceived loneliness were identified as smartphone overdependent. The GAD increased a risk of smartphone overdependence by 2.61 times (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 2.46-2.77). Perceived loneliness was associated with 1.98-fold (95% CI: 1.87-2.09) increased risk of smartphone overdependence. Additionally, conflict with peers was found to increase the risk of smartphone overdependence by 4.63-fold (95% CI: 3.89-5.52), followed by conflict with parents (odds ratio [OR]: 4.52, 95% CI: 3.84-5.31), and family environment (OR: 4.52, 95% CI: 3.75-5.46).

CONCLUSION

The findings underscore a significant association between smartphone overdependence and mental health in Korean adolescents. Healthcare services to improve their emotional coping and interpersonal skills are necessary.

Smartphone Addiction Among University Students' During the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Future Anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related psychological symptoms can lead to smartphone addiction (SPA) risk and other behavioral disorders, thus impacting individuals' mental health and well-being. The present study aims to propose a mediation model to investigate the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and SPA, and the mediating role of future anxiety (FA) during the post-COVID-19 era.

METHODS

An online questionnaire including the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Dark Future Scale, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale among university students from China, was conducted between September 14 and November 22, 2022. Finally, 1,154 valid questionnaires were collected. The reliability and confirmatory factor analysis results showed that all three scales had good reliability and validity.

RESULTS

Structural Equation Model demonstrated that EI significantly and negatively influenced SPA (β=0.211, p<0.001), university students' FA significantly and positively effected SPA (β=0.315, p<0.001), EI significantly predicted SPA in university students, and FA partially mediated the association between EI and SPA. The mediation effect of FA was 0.110, which accounted for 34.27% of the total effect. Bootstrap results furthermore tested the rigor of the mediating effect.

CONCLUSION

These findings broaden our understanding regarding the relationship between EI and SPA and the mediating role of FA, providing new sights for educators on how to reduce the risk of SPA when confronting the ongoing and possible future pandemics.

Did smartphones enhance or diminish well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Introduction

As smartphones have become increasingly integrated into people’s lives, researchers have attempted to answer whether they are beneficial or detrimental to well-being. Of particular interest to the current study is the role that smartphones played during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Methods

In an intensive longitudinal study, we explore how varying uses of smartphones relate to well-being using the Displacement-Interference-Complementarity framework.

Results

Consistent with pre-pandemic research, we show that people felt better, calmer, and more energetic when they used their phones more for complementary purposes (i.e., to access information, entertainment, and connection not otherwise available). In contrast to most pre-pandemic research, however, we find no evidence that any type of phone use predicted lower well-being during the pandemic.

Discussion

Overall, this study lends support to the idea that smartphones can be beneficial for individuals, particularly during times when face-to-face interaction is limited.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Internet Gaming Disorder Under the COVID-19 Pandemic Among University Students in Macao

Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the zero-tolerance policy implemented in Macao affected university students' life and learning styles.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of internet gaming disorder (IGD) and analyze its risk factors among university students of Macao amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Two hundred and twenty-nine university students were recruited by convenience sampling. The cross-sectional investigation was conducted using the 9-item Chinese version of the IGD Scale, the Chinese Version of the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Chinese version of the Brief Resilience Scale.

Results

The prevalence was 7.4%. Compared to Non-IGD gamers, the IGD gamers were more likely to be the older, male gender, with a longer gaming history, with more game hours per day in the last month, and with a lower self-compassion score and resilience.

Conclusion

The prevalence of IGD increased. Students who are the older, male gender, with more gaming time, low self-compassion, and low resilience, have a high possibility of IGD.

The Impact of Undergraduates' Social Isolation on Smartphone Addiction: The Roles of Academic Anxiety and Social Media Use

The COVID-19 pandemic has an adverse effect on the physical health of societies and individuals. One important concern is the effect of social isolation on the mental health of undergraduates, such as academic anxiety, smartphone addiction and other social psychological problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations among undergraduates' social isolation in this special context, social media use for obtaining information about the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., communicative and non-communicative), academic anxiety, and smartphone addiction. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June in 2022 and a total of 388 undergraduates were included. The results showed significant positive associations between social isolation and smartphone addiction and academic anxiety. Furthermore, academic anxiety played a mediating role in the effect of social isolation on smartphone addiction, which was moderated by non-communicative social media use. Some theoretical and practical implications as well as research limitations are discussed.

Prospective Association between Smartphone Addiction and Perceived Stress and Moderation of Boredom during COVID-19 in China

Smartphone addiction (SPA) is prevalent in college students and harms their healthy development, and perceived stress (PS) has been a well-documented risk factor of SPA. People often experienced boredom during COVID-19; however, its effect on behavioral/mental health during the pandemic has been rarely tested. We investigated the prospective association between SPA and PS before and during COVID-19, as well as the moderation of boredom. A total of 197 college students participated in four-wave surveys from December 2018 to June 2020 in China. The cross-lagged model was developed to investigate the prospective association between SPA and PS from T1 to T4. Boredom was added to the model at T4 as a moderator to explore the moderating role of boredom during COVID-19. The results showed that the pandemic changed PS's prediction on SPA. During COVID-19, boredom significantly affected SPA and PS and moderated the link from PS at T3 to PS at T4. The results suggest that the prospective associations between SPA and PS varied before and during COVID-19. Prevention of SPA should be conducted for new students and should be used to enhance their stress coping capacity. Intervention programs for eliminating boredom may be effective for reducing stress and SPA during COVID-19.

Smartphone addiction risk, technology-related behaviors and attitudes, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic-related perceived risk of infection, illness fears, acute stress, emotional anxiety, exhaustion, and fatigue, psychological trauma and depressive symptoms, and sustained psychological distress can cause smartphone addiction risk and lead to technology-related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders, thus impacting psychological well-being. Behavioral addiction of smartphone users can result in anxiety symptom severity, psychiatric symptoms, and depressive stress. We carried out a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest throughout June 2022, with search terms including “smartphone addiction + COVID-19” + “stress,” “anxiety,” “depression,” “psychological distress,” “screen time,” and “fear.” As we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022, 288 papers met the eligibility criteria. By excluding sources with similar titles, having unclear findings or unsupported by replication, or displaying inconsistent content, we selected 64, mainly empirical, sources. We used layout algorithms (VOSviewer) and bibliometric mapping (Dimensions) as data visualization tools. Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), a systematic review and literature review software (Distiller SR), Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), and Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR) were employed as methodological quality assessment tools. As limitations, we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022 in scholarly outlets indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases. The scope of our study also does not advance the inspection of sources covering vulnerable individuals suffering from certain diseases or specific generations. Subsequent analyses should develop on smartphone use and addiction among children and adolescents. Future research should thus investigate problematic smartphone use and addiction across generations Z and Alpha. Attention should be directed to their personality traits and psychopathological symptoms.