Adolescent Smartphone Acquisition: An Exploratory Qualitative Case Study with Late Adolescents and Their Parents

Abstract

The timing of smartphone acquisition for children and adolescence has gained public interest and research on the topic is just beginning. Parent-late adolescent dyads (n = 8; 16 individuals) from one community were recruited for participation in a study regarding smartphone acquisition in adolescence. Late adolescents (m age = 18; female n = 4; male n = 4) and parents (m age = 47; female n = 6; male n = 2) completed in-depth interviews or online surveys with open-ended items. A qualitative case study approach was selected, and inductive analytic methods were implemented. Themes indicated that age and maturity, practical reasons, and social and individual consequences were all taken into consideration when determining the timing of adolescent smartphone acquisition. Most participants reported that there was a right age for adolescents to receive a smartphone, but the ages varied (m age = 15). Results from this study support the need for research on the potential influence of age of smartphone acquisition on adolescent developmental outcomes.