New research suggests that loneliness significantly contributes to addictive smartphone use among adolescents, with self-esteem and boredom proneness acting as partial mediators. The findings, published in Psychological Reports, also indicate that a greater need to belong strengthens the relationship between boredom proneness and addictive smartphone use.
The study was prompted by growing concerns over digital addiction, a problem recognized by both the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization as a public health issue. With the Internet becoming an integral part of adolescents’ lives, the potential for addiction has soared, raising alarms about its impact on young people’s development.
Addictive smartphone use refers to a pattern of smartphone behavior that is compulsive, excessive, and difficult to control, despite negative consequences to the user’s daily life, health, and well-being. This phenomenon, while not officially recognized as a disorder in many diagnostic manuals, shares characteristics with other behavioral addictions.
Characteristics of addictive smartphone use include spending an inordinate amount of time on smartphones to the detriment of essential activities, experiencing withdrawal symptoms when unable to use the device, developing a tolerance necessitating increased use for satisfaction, and a persistent inability to cut down usage despite recognizing its negative impacts.
In their new study, Alexandra Maftei and her colleagues at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University aimed to explore the underlying factors contributing to addictive smartphone use, focusing on loneliness, self-esteem, boredom proneness, and the need to belong, to better understand how to prevent and intervene in such behaviors.
The study included 357 adolescents from ten public schools in northeastern Romania, with participants ranging in age from 12 to 19 years. The Smartphone Addiction Scale was used to assess addictive smartphone use, while the Roberts version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Short Boredom Proneness Scale, and the Need to Belong Scale helped measure loneliness, self-esteem, boredom proneness, and the need to belong, respectively.
The researchers identified a significant direct relationship between loneliness and addictive smartphone use, suggesting that feelings of isolation are associated with adolescents engaging more frequently with their smartphones.
This relationship was mediated by self-esteem. Adolescents experiencing higher levels of loneliness tended to report lower self-esteem. Low self-esteem, in turn, was associated with increased addictive smartphone use, suggesting a pathway through which loneliness can indirectly heighten the risk of smartphone addiction.
Boredom proneness emerged as another significant mediator in the relationship between loneliness and addictive smartphone use. The researchers found that adolescents who felt lonelier tended to be more prone to boredom, and this boredom proneness was directly associated with higher levels of addictive smartphone use. This indicates that the pathway from loneliness to smartphone addiction can also be driven by an increased susceptibility to boredom.
The need to belong moderated the relationship between boredom proneness and addictive smartphone use. Specifically, adolescents with a higher need to belong experienced a stronger influence of boredom proneness on addictive smartphone use. This suggests that the desire for social connection can exacerbate the impact of boredom on the likelihood of developing addictive smartphone behaviors.
Additionally, the need to belong also moderated the direct relationship between loneliness and addictive smartphone use, albeit to a marginally significant extent. This indicates that for adolescents with a strong desire to feel connected to others, the link between loneliness and addictive smartphone use becomes even more pronounced, further emphasizing the role of social needs in the context of smartphone addiction.
Together, these findings underscore the complexity of the factors contributing to addictive smartphone use among adolescents. The mediating roles of self-esteem and boredom proneness suggest that the pathway from loneliness to smartphone addiction is multifaceted, involving both the negative self-perception and the tendency to seek stimulation or distraction from feelings of boredom. The moderating effect of the need to belong highlights the importance of social dynamics in this equation, indicating that the drive for social connection can amplify the effects of both boredom proneness and loneliness on addictive smartphone use.
But there are some limitations to note, such as the study’s cross-sectional design, which prevents establishing causality, and the reliance on self-reported measures that might be subject to bias.
Future research could benefit from longitudinal designs to explore the evolution of addictive smartphone use over time and the inclusion of more objective measures of smartphone use. Additionally, considering other motivational and contextual factors, such as fear of missing out or parental influences, could provide a more comprehensive understanding of addictive smartphone use among adolescents.
The study, “Fun in a Box? Loneliness and Adolescents’ Problematic Smartphone Use: A Moderated Mediation Analysis of the Underlying Mechanisms,” was authored by Alexandra Maftei, Ioan-Alex Merlici, and Cristian Opariuc-Dan.