Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction Tendency in Korean Adolescents

The interplay of psychological resilience and adolescent mobile phone addiction in Henan province, China: insights from latent class analysis

Background

The aim of this study was to classify distinct subgroups of adolescents based on the severity levels of their mobile phone addiction and to investigate how these groups differed in terms of their psychosocial characteristics. We surveyed a total of 2,230 adolescents using three different questionnaires to assess the severity of their mobile phone addiction, stress, anxiety, depression, psychological resilience, and personality. Latent class analysis was employed to identify the subgroups, and we utilized Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and multinomial logistic regression for statistical analysis. All data analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.5.

Methods

We classified the subjects into subgroups based on their mobile phone addiction severity, and the results revealed a clear pattern with a three-class model based on the likelihood level of mobile phone addiction (p < 0.05). We examined common trends in psychosocial traits such as age, grade at school, parental education level, anxiety levels, and resilience. ROC analysis of sensitivity versus 1-specificity for various mobile phone addiction index (MPAI) scores yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.893 (95% CI, 0.879 to 0.905, p < 0.001). We also determined diagnostic value indices for potential cutoff points ranging from 8 to 40. The optimal cutoff value for MPAI was found to be >14, which corresponded to the maximum Youden index (Youden index = 0.751).

Results

The latent classification process in this research confirmed the existence of three distinct mobile phone user groups. We also examined the psychosocial characteristics that varied in relation to the severity levels of addiction.

Conclusion

This study provides valuable insights into the categorization of adolescents based on the severity of mobile phone addiction and sheds light on the psychosocial characteristics associated with different addiction levels. These findings are expected to enhance our understanding of mobile phone addiction traits and stimulate further research in this area.

Association between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Satisfaction with Sleep Fatigue Recovery and Smartphone Dependency among Korean Adolescents: An Age- and Gender-Matched Study

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), satisfaction with sleep fatigue recovery (SSFR), and smartphone dependency in South Korean adults. We analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2020 data. We selected participants who answered Internet addiction-related questions as “Very much” (n = 241) and answered Internet addiction-related questions as “Not at all” (n = 241) in the questionnaire. The participants were matched by age and gender, then divided into two groups. Between the two groups, there were considerable differences in the number of days participating in moderate to vigorous PA (5 days or more, p = 0.01), the number of strength training days (1 day, p = 0.02), the number of light PA days for more than 60 min (every day for the last 7 days, p = 0.01), and the SSFR over the past 7 days (p < 0.05). Additionally, the mean smartphone usage time and mean sedentary behavior time between the two groups showed significant differences. The study demonstrated that there were significant associations between PA, SB, SSFR, and smartphone dependency among Korean adolescents matched by age and gender. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of increasing overall PA and number of days participating in MVPA, decreasing SB time and smartphone usage time could reduce the incidence of smartphone overdependence.

Parental Efficacy in Managing Smartphone Use of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Parental and Adolescent Related Factors

Parental management has an important role in preventing problematic smartphone use among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to examine the parental factors (e.g., demographics, depressive symptoms and parenting styles) and adolescent factors (e.g., demographics, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder [ODD] symptoms, and problematic smartphone use) related to parental efficacy in managing adolescent smartphone use (PEMASU) among 237 parents of adolescents with ADHD. PEMASU was measured by the Parental Smartphone Use Management Scale. Parental depressive symptoms and parenting styles (parental affection/care and overprotection) were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression Scale and Parental Bonding Instrument, respectively. Adolescent ADHD and ODD symptoms and problematic smartphone use were measured by the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV scale and Problematic Smartphone Use Questionnaire, respectively. Three models of hierarchical linear regression were performed to examine the parental and adolescent factors related to PEMASU. The results indicated that adolescent older age and more severe ODD symptoms and problematic smartphone use were significantly associated with lower PEMASU, whereas greater parental affection/care was significantly associated with higher PEMASU. This study demonstrated that both parental and adolescent factors contribute to PEMASU among parents of adolescents with ADHD. Intervention programs aiming to enhancing PEMASU need to take these related factors into consideration.

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.