Is the relationship between parental abuse and mobile phone dependency (MPD) contingent across neighborhood characteristics? A multilevel analysis of Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey

The Relationship Between Parental Neglect, School Adjustment, and Smartphone Dependence in Korean Adolescents: Verification Using Multivariate Latent Growth Modeling

The Social bonding theory assumes that social ties are closely associated with maladaptive behavior, and this theory may be applied to explain the smartphone dependence in adolescence. The purpose of this study was to verify how school adjustment mediated the relationship between the parental neglect and smartphone dependence. The data from Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey were utilized in this study. Participants were 2280 students in the 2nd year of middle school [male 1152, female 1128; 13.89 years (SD = 0.34)] who were followed up for four years. We conducted a Multivariate Latent Growth Modeling (LGM) to verify the relationships between variables. In addition, mediating effect was analyzed using the Bootstrapping Test. Findings indicated that parental neglect was negatively associated with school adjustment in the first wave, and school adjustment showed a greater decrease as parental neglect indicated a greater increase. In addition, school adjustment was negatively associated with smartphone dependence in the first wave, and smartphone dependence showed a greater decrease as school adjustment indicated a greater increase. Mediating effect indicated that parental neglect indirectly influences smartphone dependence fully mediating school adjustment. In conclusion, parental neglect indirectly influences smartphone dependence by interfering with school adjustment. In addition, reducing the negative effects of parental neglect on school adaptation may be an effective strategy to prevent smartphone dependence in adolescence.

The association between parent-child relationship and problematic internet use among English- and Chinese-language studies: A meta-analysis

As past studies of the association between parent-child relationship and problematic internet use show mixed results and are influenced by many factors, this meta-analysis of 75 primary Chinese and English language studies from 1990 to 2021 with 110,601 participants (aged 6−25 years) explored (a) the overall association between parent-child relationship and problematic internet use, and (b) whether the association is affected by their types, country, measures, objects of the parent-child relationship, gender, age, year and publication types. We used funnel plots, Classic fail-safe N and Egger's test to test for publication bias and for moderation with the homogeneity tests. The results showed a negative association between quality of parent-child relationship and problematic internet use (r = −0.18, 95% CI = [−0.20, −0.15]). The moderation analysis found that compared with internet addiction tendency, the association between social media addiction and parent-child relationship was stronger. Moreover, the association between the parent-child relationship and problematic internet use of emerging adults (18–25 years old) was stronger than that of adolescents (12−18 years old). Furthermore, the negative association between parent-child relationship and problematic internet use was weaker (a) in Italy than those in Turkey and China, (b) when using CPS (Closeness to Parents Scale), IPPA (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment), or PARQ (Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire) measuring parent-child relationship than using PCCS (Parent-Child Communication Scale), (c) when using IAT measuring problematic internet use rather than using IGDS or APIUS. Hence, these results indicate a negative association between parent-child relationships and problematic internet use, and the association is moderated by types of problematic internet use, age, country, scales of both parent-child relationship and problematic internet use.

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

OBJECTIVES

1) To verify the association between Lifestyle and Self-Reported Smartphone Addiction in adolescents; and 2) to analyze the adolescents' perception of this relationship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD

A mixed-methods research study with a sequential and explanatory design, developed with Brazilian adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years old. In the first phase, a quantitative, observational and cross-sectional study was carried out with 479 participants and, in the second, a qualitative approach of an exploratory and descriptive nature, with 16 participants.

RESULTS

An association was verified between Lifestyle and Self-Reported Smartphone Addiction by adolescents (p < 0.01), with a large size effect (d=0.98). All the domains related to lifestyle were associated with Self-Reported Smartphone Addiction, with greater effects evidenced in the following aspects: high effect for sleep, seat belt, stress and safe sex (d=0.85); and moderate effect for insight (d=0.74) and career (d=0.71). Subsequently, the qualitative analysis resulted in a category that describes how the adolescents understand this relationship in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSION

More problematic lifestyles were evidenced among the adolescents classified as dependent. In addition to that, it was understood that the COVID-19 pandemic exerted a considerable impact on the lifestyle and behavior established by the adolescents with their smartphones.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRACTICE

Nurses and other health professionals are essential in the promotion of healthy lifestyles and adaptive behavior in smartphone use, especially in the face of this pandemic scenario and, thus, mitigating the harms to the adolescents' health.

Smartphone Use Type, Fear of Missing Out, Social Support, and Smartphone Screen Time Among Adolescents in Korea: Interactive Effects

This study aims to examine the relationship between intrapersonal factors, interpersonal factors, smartphone screen time, and the moderating roles of interpersonal factors, on the basis of the ecological model. This study is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. A total of 428 participants from four public middle schools were selected through convenience sampling (55.1% female; Mean age 13.0 ± 0.78). Data were collected through self-report questionnaires that contained questions about sociodemographic characteristics, intrapersonal factors (types of smartphone use, Fear of missing out—FoMO), interpersonal factors (support from parents, teachers, and peers), and smartphone screen time. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression. The daily smartphone screen time was 4.05 ± 2.16 h. Results showed that social media (β = 0.155), games (β = 0.140), and FoMO (β = 0.227) were positively associated with smartphone screen time, while educational videos (β = −0.130) and parental support (β = −0.212) were negatively associated with smartphone screen time. Peers support moderated the association between games and smartphone screen time. Parental support moderated the association between educational videos, videos/movies/TV, and smartphone screen time. The findings highlight the direct and interactive roles of intrapersonal and interpersonal factors in predicting adolescents' smartphone screen time. Based on this study, the intrapersonal and interpersonal factors of adolescents should be comprehensively considered to intervene in their proper smartphone use.

Parent-child relationship and smartphone use disorder among Chinese adolescents: The mediating role of quality of life and the moderating role of educational level

The present study explored the effect of parent-child relationship on Smartphone Use Disorder (SUD) and the mediating role of quality of life (QOL). In addition, we explored the role of educational level from the developmental psychology perspective. Our results indicate that: (1) parent-child relationship could negatively predict SUD among adolescents; (2) QOL played a partial mediator role in the relationship between parent-child relationship and SUD; (3) As educational level increased from elementary school to middle school to high school, the effect of parent-child relationship on QOL weakened. This study showed that adolescents with good parent-child relationship had a higher QOL thus exhibiting a lower extent of SUD. Moreover, the link between parent-child relationship and SUD weakened as the educational level increased.