Psychological Factors associated with Smartphone Addiction in Young Adolescents

Abstract

The smartphone has many attractive attributes and characteristics that make it

highly addictive, particularly in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the

prevalence of young adolescents in risk of smartphone addiction and the psychological

factors associated with smartphone addiction. 490 middle-school students completed a selfquestionnaire

measuring levels of smartphone addiction, behavioral and emotional problems,

self-esteem, anxiety, and adolescent-parent communication. 128(26.61%) adolescents were

in high risk of smartphone addiction. Adolescents in high risk of smartphone addiction

showed significantly more severe levels of behavioral and emotional problems, lower selfesteem

and poorer quality of communication with their parents. Multiple regression analysis

revealed that the severity of smartphone addiction was associated with aggressive

behavior(β=0.593, t=3.825) and self-esteem(β=-0.305, t=-2.258). Further exploratory and

confirmatory studies should consider different sites, demographics, technological mobile

devices, platforms, and applications