Children's Smartphone Research Articles

Nomophobia and smartphone addiction as correlates of senior secondary school students’ mathematics anxiety

Technology has revolutionised everyday existence. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is essential to society, employment, and education. Improved microelectronics has facilitated the proliferation of inexpensive portable devices such as smartphones. This study, therefore, investigated whether senior secondary school students' nomophobia and smartphone addiction are linked to math anxiety. Two research hypotheses were tested and the study was guided by social cognitive theory. This study employed a descriptive survey research methodology and primary data were collected from 397 students in Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria with the use of the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q, α=0.89), the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV, α=0.82), and the Mathematics Anxiety Scale (MAS, α=0.81) developed by Yildirim and Correia (2015), Kwon et al. (2013), and Ablian and Parangat (2022) respectively. The data gathered were subjected to analysis using frequency counts, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis at 0.05 significance level. This analysis was conducted using SPSS software, specifically version 23.0. The research revealed a significant association between nomophobia and smartphone addiction among the students. Additionally, the severity of nomophobia and smartphone addiction emerged as significant predictors of mathematics anxiety among high schools in Lagos. Consequently, this investigation proposes that educational authorities in Lagos State should consider implementing a ban on mobile phone usage within secondary schools as a means to mitigate these behavioural addictions among adolescents. Additionally, stakeholders within the education sector, including parents, can contribute to the prevention of these addictions by advising students about the perils of smartphone addiction, fostering ethical social interactions that cultivate trust in the family unit, and imposing restrictions on their children's smartphone usage and associated expenses.

Parental views on their children's smartphone use during personal and relational activities.

Given the negative outcomes associated with smartphone use during personal and relational activities (SUPRA), parents strive to regulate its use among their children. However, media parenting recommendations lack knowledge of parental views on SUPRA and their relative occurrence in youths. This study aimed to (i) estimate SUPRA frequency among children and adolescents, (ii) assess parental dislike (PD) of SUPRA, and (iii) identify predictors of PD of SUPRA. An online survey was completed by 826 parents (49% mothers, age 25-74, Median = 43 years), capturing PD of SUPRA, estimated frequency of SUPRA in their children (49% female, age 6-18, Median = 10 years), parenting styles (warmth and control), parental attitudes toward screen media, and sociodemographic characteristics. The rate of frequent SUPRA was significantly higher in adolescents (2.7-48.1%) compared to children (2.1-27.2%) with odds ratios ranging from 0.67 to 3.04, depending on the activity type. PD of SUPRA was high in parents of children (M = 4.04, SD = 0.66) and adolescents (M = 3.93, SD = 0.71). Linear regression identified being a mother, having higher levels of control and warmth, and less positive attitudes toward screen media as significant predictors of SUPRA dislike. Our study was the first to report the estimated occurrence and parental dislike of smartphone use (SU) during various personal and relational activities, enabling their direct comparison. Experts warn against SU while studying and at bedtime, which frequently occurred in 4-5% of children and 10-12% of adolescents. More attention should be paid to SU during relational (peer/family) activities due to its relatively high occurrence and parental dissatisfaction.

The Smartphone Effects on Kindergarten Children: Analysis of Creativity and Imagination

Smartphones are simple to use, even for kindergarten students. Smartphones include programs that can entice children and help them spend their time wisely. Children who are unrestricted in their use of smartphones by their parents or caretakers are more likely to exhibit negative behaviors. The majority of the literature on children's smartphone use primarily focuses on its negative impacts, however a few also acknowledge its positive aspects. This research is critical because today's children are growing up in an age of technological advancement. This study aims to provide adults, parents, caregivers, and teachers with valuable insights on effectively managing smartphones to foster positivity and creativity in children. This study sought to observe and describe the impact of smartphone use on the creativity and imagination of kindergarten students. This study will utilize descriptive and drawing analysis methods. The participants will consist of twenty-four drawings created by kindergarten children. Twelve of these drawings will be selected as examples for this study. This study demonstrated a beneficial correlation between children's use of smartphones and their creativity and imagination. It is demonstrated by the results of fourteen distinct types of things drawn from twenty-four gathered drawings. This work will make major contributions to fields such as communication, psychology, and education. This study recommends the involvement of adults, parents, family members, caretakers, and teachers in children's everyday lives to encourage and aid them in discovering their potential in order to develop their imagination and creativity.

Analysis of Smartphone Addiction With Anxiety in School-Aged Children

Introduction: Increasing smartphone overuse among children is an addictive behavior that not only creates physical difficulties, but also affects their mental health in ways such as mood changes, withdrawal, emotional discomfort, fear and worry regarding certain social situation. The study aimed at determining the analysis correlation between smartphone addiction with anxiety in Pawyatan Daha elementary school, Kediri, East Java. Methods: This study use a cross-sectional design. The sampling method was simple random sampling and 154 students from Pawyatan Daha elementary school, Kediri, East Java comprised the sample. Data collection was carried out in November to December 2022. In this study, the independent variable was smartphone addiction as measured by the smartphone addiction risk children questionnaire (SARCQ), and the dependent variable was anxiety as measured by the revised child anxiety and depression scale (RCADS). Data analysis was using the spearman rho test with α=0.05. Result: The study showed the majority 77.3% of respondents are addicted smartphone in the high category, anxiety majority 52.6% of respondents are general anxiety disorders category and statistical test result show a significant correlation with a p-value of 0.001 (p<0.005) and r = 0.330. Conclusions: Smartphone addiction has a correlation with anxiety in school-aged children, parents must supervise their children's smartphone use in order to help them develop character and avoid addicted behavior and nurse can act as counselors by providing regular counseling service visits to elementary school to reduce smartphone addiction.

Lack of Parental Control Is Longitudinally Associated With Higher Smartphone Addiction Tendency in Young Children: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the risk factors of young children's smartphone addiction in a longitudinal study design. Data collected from 313 participants (mean age, 4.5 ± 0.82 years; male, 49.8%) over 4 years for Kids Cohort for Understanding of Internet Addiction Risk Factors in Early Childhood were analyzed in this study. Mixed effect models were used to evaluate the influence of various variables on the repeated measures of smartphone addiction tendency in young children over time. The multi-level analysis showed that parents' lack of control over children's smartphone use (t = -4.523; 95% confidence interval [CI], -7.32, -1.72), and parents' higher smartphone addiction proneness (t = 6.340; 95% CI, 0.23, 0.440) predicted higher smartphone addiction tendency in young children. The responsibility of the parents to prevent their children from becoming addicted to smartphones should start in a very early age when they start using the smartphones.

코로나(COVID-19)팬데믹 상황 속 부모의 성취압력이 아동의 행복감에 미치는 영향

Objectives This study was conducted to examine the direct and indirect effects of parents' achievement pressure, children's smartphone addiction, and school adaptation on children's happiness.
 Methods In order to analyze the influence relationships between variables, the 13th (2020) data of the Parenting Policy Research Institute's Panel Study of Korea Children was collected from 629 children and parents who answered all of the questions out of 2,150. The data was used in the final analysis, and was statistically processed and analyzed through SPSS 21.0 and Amos 21.0 programs.
 Results First, the direct influence of parents' achievement pressure on children's smartphone addiction and children's school adaptation and happiness was found to be significant, and the direct influence of children's school adaptation on happiness was also found to be significant. On the other hand, the direct influence of children's smartphone addiction on happiness was found to be insignificant. Second, parents' achievement pressure was found to have an indirect effect through the mediation of children's school adaptation. Third, in the path where parents' achievement pressure affects children's happiness, a sequential double mediating effect of children's smartphone addiction and school adaptation was found. Lastly, the factor that had the greatest impact on children's happiness was found to be the school adaptation variable.
 Conclusions The results of this study show that children's school adaptability has the greatest impact in amplifying children's happiness, and suggest the need to develop various counseling programs to relieve parents' achievement pressure and promote smart phone use to promote children's happiness.

The Effect of Employed Mothers’ Work-Family Balance on a Child’s Smartphone Overdependence: The Mediating Effect of Mother-Child Interaction Activities

Objectives: This research investigates how mother-child interactions mediate the effect of employed mothers' work-family balance on their children's excessive smartphone use. The study aims to provide insights for developing support for working mothers and their children.Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to employed mothers with children in kindergartens and daycare centers in Seoul and Gyeonggi, yielding 221 valid responses. SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 7.4 were used for analysis, including frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and a mixed structural equation model, with significance at α = .05 and a 95% confidence interval.Results: The study found that a positive work-family balance enhances mother-child interaction, which in turn reduces children's smartphone overdependence. Conversely, work-family conflict increases this dependence, but is mitigated by mother-child interaction. The study delineates the relationships among work-family balance, interaction, and smartphone dependence in children.Conclusion: The interaction between working mothers and their children significantly influences children's smartphone overdependence. Thus, it's crucial to support employed mothers through educational strategies and programs promoting quality interactions with children, balancing work and family roles.

어머니 양육태도가 유아의 애착안정성에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of mothers' parenting attitudes and smartphone overdependence on children's attachment stability.
 Methods The participants were 185 parents of children's in D city and G city who were in kindergartens and childcare centers. To examine the relationship between mothers' parenting attitude, smartphone overdependence, and children's attachment stability. we conducted analyses including means, correlations, and multiple regression analysis.
 Results The results of this study are as follows. First, The difference in smartphone overdependence according to the level of smartphone use and use of mothers and children's was confirmed. Second, Mother's parenting attitude and smartphone overdependence are negatively correlated, the mother's parenting attitude and attachment stability are positively correlated, there was a negative correlation between children's smartphone overdependence and attachment stability. Third, In the relationship between affectionate parenting attitudes and attachment stability of children's smartphone overdependence was found to have a partial mediating effect.
 Conclusions These results confirmed that the mother's affectionate parenting attitude and excessive use of smartphones were significant for the attachment stability of children's, this suggests that intervention is needed in consideration of the mother's parenting attitude and smartphone overdependence as a way to support the stable attachment stability of children's.

“Spilling the tea” on generation Z social media use and body image

AbstractOver ninety percent of American teens and the majority of children have smartphones. As access to social media increases so does the growing concern for the psychological well‐being of today's youth. The current cross‐sectional study examined the media use, appearance pressure, and body image of 150 Midwestern American Generation Z (born in 1997–2012) youth. This study assessed media use by child‐report, parent‐report, and by gathering data directly from the child's smartphone. Results demonstrated that media use was higher in teens than children, but did not suggest strong gender differences. The data also showed the inconsistencies present in media use reporting, with parents overestimating the amount of time their children spend on phones. Media use was found to be unrelated to body image. Media pressure and social media integration into participants’ social routines were intercorrelated and higher in the older age groups than the younger ones. Media pressure and media use was found to be less gendered than expected, but greatly shifted with age. Time spent on social media may be less influential on body image than the content of the media being consumed.

A qualitative study on parental mediation of rural‐to‐urban migrant children's smartphone use in China: Concerns, strategies and challenges

AbstractThis study explores parental mediation of smartphone use by rural‐to‐urban migrant children in China. A total of 16 migrant parents participated in semi‐structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis is conducted to analyse the transcribed interviews. Findings indicate that migrant parents are highly concerned about the harmful impact of smartphone use on their children. Three parental mediation strategies mentioned in previous studies are confirmed, that is, restriction mediation, monitoring and active mediation, whereas a new mediation strategy, namely, activity substitution, is identified in this study. This study finds that the parents use a combination of different strategies for parental mediation. Furthermore, four themes identify the challenges in parental mediation: Lack of time, skills and helper for parenting and father's absence, inconsistency between parents' restrictive mediation and own overuse practices, the adverse effect of COVID‐19 and the need for professional help. Finally, implications for social work practice are discussed.

Analyzing the Caregivers' behavioral patterns in managing their young Children's smartphone use in South Korea

PurposeAs the age of exposure to screen media has decreased, problematic smartphone usage is becoming more prevalent among younger children. As children's smartphone use is often determined by their caregivers, understanding their motivations for allowing young children to use smartphones is crucial. This study aimed to explore the behavioral patterns of main caregivers in South Korea related to their young children's smartphone usage and the underlying motivations. Design and methodsSemi-structured phone interviews were conducted, audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using grounded theory methodology. ResultsFifteen participants from South Korea, identifying as main caregivers of young children under six years of age and expressing concerns about their children's smartphone usage patterns, were recruited. A core category describing caregiver’ behaviors of managing children to use smartphones was identified as “Maintaining a vicious cycle to seek comfort in parenting.” Their behavioral patterns appeared to be cyclical, alternating between permitting and restricting their children's smartphone use. They permitted their children to use smartphones to decrease their parenting burdens. However, this led to discomfort as they perceived the negative impacts of smartphones on their children and felt guilty. Consequently, they limited smartphone use, which increased their parental burden again. ConclusionParental education and policy efforts are essential to prevent risks associated with children's problematic smartphone usage. Practice implicationsDuring regular health checkups for young children, nurses should assess potential smartphone overuse and related problems, considering caregiver motivations.

Smartphone Use Guidance Experiences of Parents of Elementary School Students

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand smartphone use guidance experiences of parents elementary school students.Methods: Qualitative data were collected from 10 parents of elementary school students through individual in-depth interview from January 2022 to February 2022. Collected data were analyzed using the Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.Results: The following four categories were derived from in-depth interviews: ‘Ambivalence on children's smartphone use’, ‘Limitations of guidance competence’, ‘Strategy for guidance’, and ‘New insights and challenges’.Conclusion: This study confirmed that parents of elementary school students were experiencing insight and growth in the process of constantly thinking, trying new strategies, and struggling while guiding their children’s smartphone use. Parental education on elementary school students' smartphone use guidance should include comprehensive contents that could check awareness and principles of useful smartphone use and enable effective guidance tailored to the child's developmental characteristics.

부모와 초등학생의 자아존중감, 스마트폰 의존도, 공격성, 삶의 만족도 간 구조적 관계

Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify the actor and partner effects of parent-child's self-esteem on smartphone dependency, and to examine the structural relationships among parent-child's self-esteem, smartphone dependency with child’s aggression and life satisfaction. Methods The data on a total of 2,072 pairs of a child(4th-6th grade in an elementary school) and their parents from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018 was utilized as the research material and analysis was conducted based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model(APIM). Structural Equation Model(SEM) with ML and item parceling was also conducted to examine the difference in the path coefficients between the gender through multigroup path analysis. Results Results were as follows. First, self-esteem had a negative actor effect on smartphone dependency for both the parents and the child. Also, self-esteem was shown to have the parents' partner effect on smartphone dependency, but the child's partner effect was not found. Second, both the parents and the child’s self-esteem also had a negative effect on child’s aggression while smartphone dependency had a positive effect on child’s aggression. Child’s self-esteem was shown to have a positive effect on his life satisfaction, but the parents’ self-esteem was not verified its effect. In addition, both parents and child's smartphone dependency and child’s aggression mediated the effect parent-child's self-esteem had on child’s life satisfaction. Third, no significant gender differences were verified. Conclusions This study suggests that parents’ self-esteem and smartphone dependency will be used as key components of child’s life satisfaction as well as the its relevance relationships among child’s self-esteem, smartphone dependency and aggression.

How Using Parental Control Software Can Enhance Parents’ Well-Being: The Role of Product Features on Parental Efficacy and Stress

Today, children's smartphone overuse and digital addiction are among parents’ top concerns. To address this issue, technology firms have developed services to help parents monitor their children's screen time. The literature on the impact of parental control tends to focus on the well-being of children, often overlooking the effects of parenting control on the well-being of parents themselves. This research investigates the psychological outcomes associated with delegating parental control to software. The authors conducted two surveys and three experiments among samples of parents in France and the United Kingdom. The results show that resorting to digitally assisted control improves anticipated well-being by decreasing role overload and increasing parental efficacy (Study 1). Moreover, product features play a critical role: software designs that promote children's autonomy (Study 2) or product autonomy (Study 3) tend to be less effective in improving parents’ anticipated well-being. Implications for technology companies are discussed.

TikTok Social Media and Colloquial Discourse of Grade 4—6 Elementary School Children in Surabaya

This study aims to explore how TikTok content consumptions affect daily language usage of 4th-6th graders in Surabaya elementary school. The popularity of TikTok as an entertainment platform has increased rapidly since Covid-19 pandemic. With thousands of content, some of TikTok users are children who are in the phase of imitation and building their language skills. By applying a qualitative approach based on interviews and observations, our findings suggest that during the pandemic, parental supervision of children's smartphone usage was very low. This creates a tendency for children to freely roam on various applications on their devices, including TikTok, which results in massive and uncontrolled patterns of content consumption. On further observations of content production activities and cross-platform online social interactions, findings revealed the tendency for these children to reproduce and imitate several vocabularies commonly found in TikTok content, such as anjing, goblok, kakak, butuh kontak, bang, lonte, and cok. In researchers’ observations, these vocabularies tend to have negative nuances because they contain swearing, disrespectful, and rude elements.

A Longitudinal Relationship Between Mother's Smartphone Addiction to Child's Smartphone Addiction.

Children are more likely to become addicted as they become accustomed to using smartphones, and as they observe and imitate their parents using smartphones. This study aims to confirm longitudinally the effect of mother's smartphone addiction on children's smartphone addiction. Latent growth modeling was used to analyze longitudinal relationships between 3615 pairs of children and their mothers from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) (2018-2020). As a result, both the mothers and children's smartphone addiction significantly increased over time. The initial value of the mother's smartphone addiction was found to have a significant effect on the child's initial value and the change rate. Moreover, children's smartphone addiction change rate was significantly affected by the change rate of the mother's smartphone addiction. To intervene in children's smartphone addiction, a family-level approach, as well as parental addiction, must also be addressed, and a preventive approach should focus on those with a low risk of addiction.

Investigation of children's habits of smartphone usage and parental awareness of myopia control in underdeveloped areas of China.

To investigate the behaviors of smartphone usage and parental knowledge of vision health among primary students in the rural areas of China. In this school-based, cross-sectional study, a total of 52 606 parents of students from 30 primary schools in the Xingguo County were investigated through an online questionnaire from July 2020 to August 2020. The self-designed questionnaire contained three parts: the demographic factors of both children and parents, parental knowledge and attitude toward myopia, and the preventive treatment of myopia. A total of 52 485 appropriately answered questionnaires were received, showing an effective response rate of 95.1%. The average age of the primary students was 10.1±0.98y and the prevalence of myopia among the primary students was 40.3%. The age of myopia occurrence in elementary students was significantly correlated with the parents' educational level (95%CI: 0.82-0.98, P=0.013), children's gender (95%CI: 1.08-1.20, P<0.001), school location (county or countryside) (95%CI: 0.59-0.66, P<0.001), children's smartphone ownership (95%CI: 1.09-1.26, P<0.001), and the average time spent on smartphone per day (95%CI: 0.78-0.88, P<0.001). School location in the county town, high family income, and high parents' educational level significantly affected both parents' myopia awareness and children's vision-threatening behaviors (P<0.01). Left-behind children showed a higher incidence of vision-threatening habits than those who lived with their parents (P<0.01). The results reveal the current situation of myopia development among rural primary school students and their parents. This survey will serve as a guidance for designing myopic prevention policies in the rural areas of China.

Implementasi PAI Melalui Kearifan Lokal sebagai Upaya Mengatasi Kecanduan Smart Phone Anak: Study Permainan Engklek di SDN Patahunan 01 Bogor

In the current era of digitalization, both children, teenagers, and adults are addicted to smart phones. The impact of smartphone addiction is divided into two, one positive impact and the second negative impact. The biggest impact of smartphone addiction is experienced by school children in elementary, middle, and high schools. Where children become lazy, eyes are damaged, and attitudes towards teachers and parents are not polite. This study aims to find out "Implementation of PAI through Local Wisdom as an Effort to Overcome Children's Smart Phone Addiction (Study of Engklek Games at SDN PATAHUNAN 01 Bogor)". The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative research method, which is a research method that is shown to describe, analyze a phenomenon, as well as events in social activities, attitudes, beliefs, carefully in the form of written words from people and observed activities. . In conducting this research, the researcher used interview, observation (direct observation), and documentation to the object of research, namely students at SDN Patahunan 01 Bogor. The results of the research based on the formulation of the problem that have been carried out show that in every Traditional Game, both Engklek and others have Islamic Religious Education values, such as the value of honest character, value of tolerance character, value of discipline character, value of hard work character, value of creative character, value of friendly/communicative character, the value of peace-loving character and the value of cooperation.&#x0D; Keywords: Islamic Religious Education, Local Wisdom, Engklek, Smart Phone

The association between smartphone and tablet usage and children development

Smartphone and tablet usage duration may relate to problems with early development in children. It is imperative to determine the appropriate duration of its usage by children. The purpose of the study was 1) to investigate the correlation between child development and smartphone and tablet usage duration, 2) to study the correlation of smartphone and tablet usage duration between children and their caregivers, and 3) to correlate child development and other factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Eighty-five community children with a mean age of 4.05 ± 0.91 years were recruited as study subjects. Development was assessed using the Denver Developmental Screening Test II, which includes gross motor, language, fine motor-adaptive and personal-social developments. Subsequently, details of smartphone and tablet usage for the next seven days were recorded. The average duration of smartphone and tablet usage was 82.78 ± 62.82 min/day. In addition, 32.94%, 11.76%, 9.42%, and 2.35%, of children were classified as suspected fine motor-adaptive, personal-social, language, and gross motor development, respectively. The main findings revealed a highly significant correlation between a child's smartphone and tablet usage duration and their gross motor development. Children's smartphone and tablet usage duration showed a positive significant correlation with the duration spent on smartphones and tablets by mothers and relatives. Father's medical history and family income showed a significant correlation with child development. Thus, caregivers must pay attention to the smartphone and tablet usage time of children, mothers and relatives to prevent abnormal development in children.

The CORRELATION BETWEEN PARENTING STYLES AND SMARTPHONE ADDICTION AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

Introduction: Long term usage of smart phones will influence the physical and psychological conditions of children. Parents need to supervise the use of smart phones to overcome the impact of playing smart phones. The purpose of this study was to determine correlation of parenting styles with children's smart phone addiction rates in Indonesia. Materials and Methods: The design of the study used correlative analytics with a cross-sectional approach. The population was elementary school students at grades four, five, and six on Islamic elementary school in Indonesia. The Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was applied to get the sample and got 70 students as the respondents. The data were collected by using the Parenteral Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Smartphone Addiction Questionnaire. Data analysis using the Chi-Square test. Results: Most students had parents with a democratic parenting style (48.6%), and most students experienced moderate addiction (54.3%). The chi-Square test shows a relationship between parenting with smart phone addiction and the results of ρ = 0.042. Conclusion: This study indicated that proper parenting style could reduce the incidence of smart phone addiction, so parents need to applied effective parenting. For the school to always provide direction and guidance in the form of socialization to students about the effects of excessive smart phone use. The nursing profession, especially the local community health centers, is expected to be able to collaborate with schools to minimize the incidence of smartphone addiction by providing socialization about the impact of smartphone use.