Is Smartphone Addiction Associated with a Younger Age at First Use in University Students?

Chung

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Internet and smartphone addiction have become important social issues. Various studies have demonstrated their association with clinical and psychological factors, including depression, anxiety, aggression, anger expression, and behavioral inhibition, and behavioral activation systems. However, these two addictions are also highly correlated with each other, so the consideration of the relationship between internet and smartphone addiction can enhance the analysis. In this study, we considered the copula regression model to regress the bivariate addictions on clinical and psychological factors. Real data analysis with 555 students (age range: 14–15 years; males, N = 295; females, N = 265) from South Korean public middle schools is illustrated. By fitting the copula regression model, we investigated the dependency between internet and smartphone addiction and determined the risk factors associated with the two addictions. Furthermore, by comparing the model fits of the copula model with linear regression and generalized linear models, the best copula model was proposed in terms of goodness of fit. Our findings revealed that internet and smartphone addiction are not separate problems, and that associations between them should be considered. Psychological factors, such as anxiety, the behavioral inhibition system, and aggression were also significantly associated with both addictions, while ADHD symptoms were related to internet addiction only. We emphasize the need to establish policies on the prevention, management, and education of addiction.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following this, the initial use of the internet and smartphones was added to our survey. In addition, participants answered questions related to gaming patterns based on a study on internet-based games that determined game play as an important indicator of the potential risk of internet gaming addiction [ 28 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Correlated Internet and Smartphone Addiction in Adolescents: Copula Regression Analysis

Chung

et al. 2020

IJERPH

“…Young people are highly involved with their smartphones and feel valued and accepted by others which may heighten their self-esteem (Walsh et al , 2010; Zulkefly and Baharudin, 2009). Higher smartphone addiction score has been observed among those who owned first smartphone at a young age (Jaalouk and Boumosleh, 2018). It was observed that as people grow old, they spend less time on the smartphone because of the decrease in the social usage and social stress, and increase in self-control, thus the chances of them getting addicted to their smartphone is low (Haug et al , 2015; Van Deursen et al , 2015).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature on smartphone addiction and future research agenda

Khan

2021

APJBA

PurposeWith the rise in adverse impact of excessive technology use, such as smartphone; the issue of smartphone addiction has gained the attention of researchers in recent years. Therefore, this study undertakes to review the literature on smartphone addiction research by identifying the current state of research in this domain and the future avenues that need to be addressed.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted on 652 articles extracted from SCOPUS database. Publications were extracted from Scopus by performing a keyword search of “Smartphone Addiction” OR “Problematic smartphone use”. Bibliometric methods such as performance analysis and science mapping were used to perform the overview of smartphone addiction research. In addition, VOSviewer software was used to organise, analyse and present the data. This study identifies the most prolific authors, journals, documents, collaborative work, major research themes, potential research avenues in this field of research.FindingsThe result shows that the research on smartphone addiction has increased recently, the dominance of research is found in few countries only. There is preponderance of research in this domain in Asian countries, particularly South Korea and still there is a significant scope for future research in this area, which is presented in detail in this study. The research on smartphone addiction has been mainly conducted in the field of medicine and psychology; the other subjects lack behind by a significant margin in terms of research publications in this domain. The findings suggest Elhai (US) is the most influential researcher in this field, and US has shown high collaboration in smartphone addiction research with other countries as well as with authors within its domestic territory. Thematic map obtained from R software presents the evolution of themes. It shows that quality of life, social support, self-efficacy, anxiety and depression are major variables studied over the period. Respondents in most of the studies were university students, as the young generation is technology-savvy and is more attracted to gadgets such as smartphones.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides an overview of research on smartphone addiction through an exhaustive bibliometric analysis to organise the fragmented literature on smartphone addiction and provide structure for future research in the domain. This is the first study of its kind on the subject. This study has found important future research avenues in the domain, which need to be addressed. Also, it will provide guidance to stakeholders from different backgrounds like, manufacturers, marketers, regulators, policymakers, consumers and academicians to contribute in controlling this problem as a part of their social responsibility.Originality/valueThis paper is unique in the sense that it, for the first time, attempts to provides valuable insights on the current status of research on smartphone addiction and also provides guidance for potential future agenda through bibliometric and content analysis techniques.

“…Experts-whether pediatricians, psychologists, education specialists, or social scientists specialized in communication-tend not to give clear answers to this question, and it is generally left to parents to establish when their children are capable of autonomously managing a media device. Indeed, little evidence has been published on the drivers of the age of smartphone acquisition or on the short-and long-term consequences of early ownership: while some studies have found a negative relationship between early access and school performance or well-being (Dempsey et al, 2019;Jaalouk & Boumosleh, 2018), other research shows that early owners have higher information and communications technology (ICT) self-efficacy (Li et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Age of the Smartphone: An Analysis of Social Predictors of Children’s Age of Access and Potential Consequences Over Time

Gerosa,

Losi,

Gui

2024

Youth & Society

Smartphones are the principal instrument for internet access among adolescents and pre-adolescents in many industrialized countries. However, research on the long-term correlates of age at first access to these devices concerning life outcomes is scarce. This study contributes to the literature by collecting data from 3,247 Italian students in grade 10. Through OLS and logistic regressions, we investigate socio-demographics’ role in predicting the age of first smartphone access and the associations between the age of access and selected life outcomes. The moderating effect of socio-demographics on such relationships is also investigated through multiple-interaction models. Results suggest that females and students from less-educated families are more likely to receive smartphones earlier. Early smartphone access is negatively associated with adolescents’ well-functioning. Finally, deferring access reduces the gender gap in language proficiency, digital skills and life satisfaction.