The Effects of Degree of Smartphone Use By Purpose on Adolescent Depression: Focusing on the Mediating Effects of Peer Relationships

Background and Purpose:

Adolescents use smartphones for various purposes, including leisure, information acquisition, learning, communication, and their importance has further increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the negative effects of smartphone use, such as addiction and overdependence, and have generally assessed these effects based only on usage time and level of dependence without distinguishing among different usage purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to examine whether the effects of smartphone use on adolescents differ according to their usage purposes. Meanwhile, as more than 25% of adolescents in South Korea experience depression, it is important to investigate the effects of smartphone use on adolescents’ depression and their peer relationships in order to support school adjustment and promote mental health prevention.

Accordingly, this study classifies adolescents' smartphone use into three purposes—communication, information, and leisure—and examines the effects of each usage purpose on depression. Furthermore, this study aims to verify whether peer relationships mediate the relationship between smartphone use and depression.

Methods:

Data were drawn from the fourth wave (2021) of the 4th-grade elementary school panel of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018, conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. The study sample consisted of 2,246 first-year middle school students. The data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 through frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and correlation analysis. Additionally, SPSS PROCESS Macro 4.2 was utilized to analyze and test the mediation effects among key variables. The number of bootstrap samples was set to 5,000, and the confidence level was set at 95%.

Results:

First, smartphone use for communication did not directly influence depression. However, it had a significant positive effect on peer relationships (B=.2119, p<.001), and peer relationships had a significant negative effect on depression (B=-.2954, p<.001). The bootstrapping analysis revealed a significant indirect effect (B=-.0626, 95% CI[-.0796, -.0468]), indicating a full mediation effect of peer relationships in the relationship between smartphone use for communication and depression. Second, smartphone use for information did not have a significant impact on either peer relationships or depression. Third, smartphone use for leisure was found to increase depression directly (B=.0978, p<.001), although the mediating effect of peer relationships was not statistically significant.

Conclusions and Implications:

The results of this study suggest that the effects of smartphone use on adolescents' peer relationships and depression differ depending on the purpose of use, highlighting the importance of considering the specific functions of smartphone use when assessing its psychological and social impacts. These findings provide empirical evidence for the development of policies and programs tailored to the characteristics of contemporary youth, contributing to the establishment of targeted interventions aimed at improving adolescent well-being. In particular, given the positive effects of smartphone use for communication purposes, it is recommended to expand online counseling services and peer communication-based mental health programs. Additionally, media literacy education should be reformed in a way that better reflects the characteristics of adolescents' smartphone use.