Abstract
This study aimed to compare the mean scores of mobile phone use, mobile phone addiction, and depressive symptoms at three-time points among Korean adolescents according to gender and to examine the differences in the long-term relationships among the three abovementioned variables between Korean boys and girls in a four-year period. Data for 1794 adolescents (897 boys and 897 girls) were obtained from three waves of the second panel of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used for data analyses. The study findings showed that at each of the three-time points, Korean girls tended to use their mobile phones more frequently and were at a higher risk of mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms than Korean boys. Significant changes were observed in the longitudinal relationships among phone use, mobile phone addiction, and depressive symptoms in Korean adolescents across time periods, but no gender differences were found in the strengths of these relationships. These findings contribute to expanding the knowledge base of mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms among Korean adolescents.
Highlights
Today’s adolescents are generally considered as the digital generation [1]
1 to mobile depression over time, the present study found that early mobile phone use, mobile phone addiction, phone addiction at Time 2 were not observed, but reciprocal causal relationships linking depression at and depression school were associated later(path mobile phone use, mobile phone
With regard to the autoregressive effects of mobile phone use, mobile phone addiction, and depression over time, the present study found that early mobile phone use, mobile phone addiction, and depression during middle school were associated with later mobile phone use, mobile phone addiction, and depression during high school
Summary
Today’s adolescents are generally considered as the digital generation [1] They have grown up using mobile phones, which have become an important part of their life and have reshaped their social life and behavior. Mobile phones have many advantages such as the convenience of searching information, researchers have expressed concern regarding the potential negative effects of problematic mobile phone use, such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, technostress, and poor academic performance [2,3]. In this regard, Korean adolescents have been found to be at considerable risk of mobile phone addiction. Researchers have not reached a consensus regarding the definition of mobile phone addiction, potential indicators of mobile phone addiction include preoccupation with one’s mobile phone, conflicts with one’s family members resulting from the excessive use of the mobile phone, use of the mobile phone to handle changes in mood, and feeling of unease when mobile phone use is inhibited [7]
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