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The Social bonding theory assumes that social ties are closely associated with maladaptive behavior, and this theory may be applied to explain the smartphone dependence in adolescence. The purpose of this study was to verify how school adjustment mediated the relationship between the parental neglect and smartphone dependence. The data from Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey were utilized in this study. Participants were 2280 students in the 2nd year of middle school [male 1152, female 1128; 13.89 years (SD = 0.34)] who were followed up for four years. We conducted a Multivariate Latent Growth Modeling (LGM) to verify the relationships between variables. In addition, mediating effect was analyzed using the Bootstrapping Test. Findings indicated that parental neglect was negatively associated with school adjustment in the first wave, and school adjustment showed a greater decrease as parental neglect indicated a greater increase. In addition, school adjustment was negatively associated with smartphone dependence in the first wave, and smartphone dependence showed a greater decrease as school adjustment indicated a greater increase. Mediating effect indicated that parental neglect indirectly influences smartphone dependence fully mediating school adjustment. In conclusion, parental neglect indirectly influences smartphone dependence by interfering with school adjustment. In addition, reducing the negative effects of parental neglect on school adaptation may be an effective strategy to prevent smartphone dependence in adolescence., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Sleep disturbances among college students have become a significant issue affecting their daily lives. This study aims to explore the relationship between smartphone dependence and sleep quality and examine the mediating roles of negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors., Methods: A total of 23,652 college students were included in the study, and 21,314 valid questionnaires were collected. The survey assessed demographic factors, smartphone dependence, sleep quality, negative emotions, and health-promoting behaviors. A chain mediation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among these factors., Results: Smartphone dependence was significantly positively correlated with sleep quality ( r  = 0.272, p  < 0.001) and negative emotions ( r  = 0.414, p  < 0.001), and significantly negatively correlated with health-promoting behaviors ( r  = -0.178, p  < 0.001). Sleep quality was positively correlated with negative emotions ( r  = 0.472, p  < 0.001) and negatively correlated with health-promoting behaviors ( r  = -0.218, p  < 0.001).Smartphone dependence was a significant positive predictor of sleep quality. Moreover, negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors influenced the relationship between smartphone dependence and sleep quality. The total effect, direct effect, and indirect effect values were 0.304, 0.122, and 0.170, respectively., Conclusion: Different demographic factors (such as gender and place of residence) can lead to variations in different variables. Smartphone dependence and negative emotions have a positive impact on sleep quality among college students, while health-promoting behaviors have a negative impact. Smartphone dependence directly and positively affects sleep quality and can also influence it indirectly through the mediating effects of negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors, both individually and in a chain-like manner., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Tao, Liu, Huang, Liu, Tian, Wu, Li and Peng.)

Background and Aims: Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is an emerging but understudied public health issue. Little is known about the epidemiology of PSU at the population level. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short Version (SAS-SV) and examined its associated sociodemographic factors and health behaviors in Chinese adults in Hong Kong., Methods: A random sample of 3,211 adults aged ≥18 years (mean ± SD: 43.3 ± 15.7, 45.3% men) participated in a population-based telephone survey in Hong Kong and completed the Chinese SAS-SV. Multivariable linear regressions examined the associations of sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and chronic disease status with SAS-SV score. Data were weighted by age, sex, and education attainment distributions of the Hong Kong general population., Results: The Chinese SAS-SV is internally consistent (Cronbach's α = .844) and stable over 1 week (intraclass correlation coefficient = .76, p < .001). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure established by previous studies. The weighted prevalence of PSU was 38.5% (95% confidence interval: 36.9%, 40.2%). Female sex, younger age, being married/cohabitated or divorced/separated (vs. unmarried), and lower education level were associated with a higher SAS-SV score (all ps <.05). Current smoking, weekly to daily alcohol drinking, and physical inactivity predict greater PSU after controlling for sociodemographic factors and mutual adjustment., Discussion and Conclusions: The Chinese SAS-SV was found valid and reliable for assessing PSU in Hong Kong adults. Several sociodemographic and health behavioral factors were associated with PSU at the population level, which may have implication for prevention of PSU and future research.

Background and aims Gaming applications have become one of the main entertainment features on smartphones, and this could be potentially problematic in terms of dangerous, prohibited, and dependent use among a minority of individuals. A cross-national study was conducted in Belgium and Finland. The aim was to examine the relationship between gaming on smartphones and self-perceived problematic smartphone use via an online survey to ascertain potential predictors. Methods The Short Version of the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ-SV) was administered to a sample comprising 899 participants (30% male; age range: 18-67 years). Results Good validity and adequate reliability were confirmed regarding the PMPUQ-SV, especially the dependence subscale, but low prevalence rates were reported in both countries using the scale. Regression analysis showed that downloading, using Facebook, and being stressed contributed to problematic smartphone use. Anxiety emerged as predictor for dependence. Mobile games were used by one-third of the respective populations, but their use did not predict problematic smartphone use. Very few cross-cultural differences were found in relation to gaming through smartphones. Conclusion Findings suggest mobile gaming does not appear to be problematic in Belgium and Finland.

Background and aims Research examining problematic mobile phone use has increased markedly over the past 5 years and has been related to "no mobile phone phobia" (so-called nomophobia). The 20-item Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) is the only instrument that assesses nomophobia with an underlying theoretical structure and robust psychometric testing. This study aimed to confirm the construct validity of the Persian NMP-Q using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models. Methods After ensuring the linguistic validity, Rasch models were used to examine the unidimensionality of each Persian NMP-Q factor among 3,216 Iranian adolescents and CFAs were used to confirm its four-factor structure. Differential item functioning (DIF) and multigroup CFA were used to examine whether males and females interpreted the NMP-Q similarly, including item content and NMP-Q structure. Results Each factor was unidimensional according to the Rach findings, and the four-factor structure was supported by CFA. Two items did not quite fit the Rasch models (Item 14: "I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me;" Item 9: "If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it"). No DIF items were found across gender and measurement invariance was supported in multigroup CFA across gender. Conclusions Due to the satisfactory psychometric properties, it is concluded that the Persian NMP-Q can be used to assess nomophobia among adolescents. Moreover, NMP-Q users may compare its scores between genders in the knowledge that there are no score differences contributed by different understandings of NMP-Q items.

Background/Objectives: Although smart phone is known for its convenient functions and portability, it is also causing smart phone addiction which is becoming a serious social issue. The objective of this study was to determine the degree of smartphone dependence in university students majoring in radiology and analyze the influence of smartphone addition on their interpersonal relationships. Method/Statistical Analysis: : A questionnaire was used to survey 431 university students about the use of smartphone. The questionnaire had 26 questions. Each question was evaluated with a 5-point Likert scale. Its Cronbach's a value was 0.893. Students' satisfaction for interpersonal relationship was determined according to their situation. Three additional socio-demographic characteristics (economic level, addiction, and gender) were also determined. Questions and answers were provided face-to-face. Findings: Overreliance on smartphones was the highest in living standards with income at the "middle" level with 240 (55.64%) and female students at 184 (42.6%) in gender, higher than 247 (57.3%) for male students. In terms of interpersonal satisfaction, 247 (57.3%) male students showed high levels of satisfaction with each other's relationships, while in terms of smartphone overreliance, the group of people who are not satisfied (3.545±0.34) showed high levels. Correlation analysis showed a static correlation between sex and smartphone over-dependence (r = .217, p<.001), and there was a negative correlation between smartphone and interpersonal satisfaction (r = -.236, p<.001). Improvements/Applications: Based on results of this study, a program should be developed to prevent smartphone dependence of students and raise interpersonal satisfaction. Results of this study could be used as basic data necessary for education on smartphone dependence prevention in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]