Analyzing the Effects of Smartphone Addiction, Parental Attachment, Peer Attachment on Impulsivity in School-Disengaged Adolescents

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined the effects of smartphone addiction, parental attachment, and peer attachment on impulsivity among dropout adolescents, using 318 adolescents who participated in the fifth year of the Panel Survey of School Disengaged Adolescents.
 Method: To investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on impulsivity among school dropouts, we conducted inter-variable correlation analysis, three-step mediated regression analysis, and Sobel test.
 Results: First, the correlations between impulsivity, smartphone addiction, parental attachment, and peer attachment of dropout adolescents were analyzed, and the results showed that parental attachment and peer attachment were negatively related to impulsivity and smartphone addiction were positively related to impulsivity. Second, the mediating effects of parental attachment and peer attachment on the effects of smartphone addiction on impulsivity of dropout adolescents were analyzed, and the results showed that both parental attachment and peer attachment had mediating effects on reducing impulsivity of dropout adolescents.
 Conclusion: This study is significant in that it confirms the influence of parental attachment and peer attachment on smartphone addiction and impulsivity among dropout adolescents. Therefore, based on the findings of this study, various educational interventions are needed to reduce the impulsivity of dropout adolescents through various pathways of adolescent impulsivity, and at the same time, programs that promote healthy parent-child relationships and peer relationships should be actively implemented as a preventive measure.