Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study was to determine the short-term longitudinal pathways between
smartphone use, smartphone dependency, depressive symptoms, and loneliness among late
adolescents.
Methods
A two-wave longitudinal survey was used using adolescents between the ages of 17 and
20 years. The interval between wave 1 and wave 2 was between 2.5 and 3 months. Using
convenience sampling, the total number of participants who completed both waves of
data collection was 346. Validated measures assessed smartphone dependency, smartphone
use, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. The longitudinal model was tested using
path modeling techniques.
Results
Among the 346 participants (33.6% male, mean [standard deviation] age at wave 1, 19.11
[.75] years, 56.9% response rate), longitudinal path models revealed that wave 1 smartphone
dependency predicted loneliness (β = .08, standard error [SE] = .05, p = .043) and depressive symptoms (β = .11, SE = .05, p = .010) at wave 2, loneliness at wave 1 predicted depressive symptoms at wave 2 (β =
.21, SE = .05, p < .001), and smartphone use at wave 1 predicted smartphone dependency at wave 2 (β =
.08, SE = .05, p = .011).
Conclusions
Considering the rates of smartphone ownership/use among late adolescents (95%), the
association between smartphone use and smartphone dependency, and the deleterious
effects of loneliness and depression within this population, health practitioners
should communicate with patients and parents about the links between smartphone engagement
and psychological well-being.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 31, 2019
Accepted:
June 5,
2019
Received:
January 17,
2019
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
