Is Smartphone Addiction Comparable between Adolescents and Adults? Examination of the Degree of Smartphone Use, Type of Smartphone Activities, and Addiction Levels Among Adolescents and Adults

17 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2017

Date Written: June 30, 2017

Abstract

To identify the patterns of smartphone use in relation to addiction, this study classifies survey respondents into non-addicts, potential addicts, and addicts groups, and analyzes differences in the use of smartphones by the three groups. Adolescents are found to spend more time using smartphones than adults, and the rates of smartphone addiction are higher among adolescents than among adults. Multinominal regression models show that weekend use and average time per use are significant predictors of smartphone addiction. On the other hand, among the addicts groups, adolescents and adults are found to engage in different sets of activities. The adolescent addicts are more likely to use social networking sites (SNS) and mobile games, while the adult addicts engage in a more diverse set of activities such as SNS, gambling, mobile games, videos and pornography.

Keywords: Smartphone addiction, Adolescents, Adults, Smartphone activity, Amount of smartphone use

Suggested Citation

Hwang, Yongsuk and Park, Namsu, Is Smartphone Addiction Comparable between Adolescents and Adults? Examination of the Degree of Smartphone Use, Type of Smartphone Activities, and Addiction Levels Among Adolescents and Adults (June 30, 2017). International Telecommunications Policy Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2997905

Yongsuk Hwang

Konkuk University ( email )

Seoul 143-701, Korea
120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu
Seoul 143-701, 143-701
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

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