1. Introduction
An upsurge in anxiety over phone addiction has been seen in recent years due to excessive device use and prolonged screen time, which can have detrimental effects on both physical and mental health. While this addiction can affect anyone, it is particularly prevalent among teenagers. A study conducted by a psychiatrist at King’s College London revealed that nearly 25% of young people were dependent on their mobile phones, displaying addictive behavior. This is evident when teenagers experience feelings of panic or anxiety when they are unable to access their phones. Addiction to mobile devices negatively affects adolescents’ physical and emotional health as well as their academic performance. Efforts have been made by schools and parents to address this issue, but in order to completely eradicate mobile phone addiction, it is crucial to understand and prevent its underlying causes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to look into and talk about the elements that lead to teen mobile phone addiction.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Teenagers’ Mobile Phone Addiction
The behavioural addiction known as mobile phone addiction, called mobile phone abuse syndrome or mobile phone anxiety, is characterised by a sustained reliance on mobile devices. It is important to distinguish mobile phone addiction from mere dependence, as it involves an obsessive state of uncontrolled behavior that significantly impairs physical, mental, and social functioning. This addictive behavior can be likened to other well-known addictions such as gambling or drug addiction. Although it is not a physical addiction, mobile phone addiction can have similar psychological and social consequences, including depression, anxiety, withdrawal symptoms, and difficulties in social interactions [1].
The increasing use of mobile phones for entertainment among teenagers is a growing trend in society. According to a 2016 Common Sense Media study, 50% of teenagers believe they are addicted to their mobile gadgets. In addition, 72% of teenagers feel pressure to reply to social messages and internet notifications right away. while 78% check their phone messages within an hour [2]. According to research, this behaviour may have a scientific basis since the brain reacts to smartphones in a way that drugs do, releasing dopamine in response to message ringtones. This addictive behavior can interfere with daily functions and is challenging to overcome once established [3].
2.2. Incentives
Most teenagers report that when their parents take away their phones, it has a detrimental effect on their social interactions and mental health. Dr. Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist, suggests that parents should take the initiative to help teenagers develop their emotional regulation skills or seek professional guidance. It is recommended that parents start monitoring their children’s phone use when teenagers first have mobile phones and establish rules, as this can greatly help in preventing mobile phone addiction [4].
Family factors, peer relationships, and stress are all related to mobile phone addiction behavior. Parental education methods that are either too strict or too lenient can have a negative impact on the behavior of young people. A positive family environment can assist young people in developing proper values and behavior patterns, enhancing self-regulation and social skills, and improving their understanding of life and society. This, in turn, enables them to better adapt to the social environment and vice versa.
Adolescents’ values and moral development are significantly influenced by their peer relationships. Through interactions with peers, adolescents learn to differentiate and evaluate various behaviors and choices, which in turn shape their own values. However, due to their young age and lack of judgment and experience, young people are susceptible to imitating and adopting negative habits. When subjected to prolonged stress, teenagers may experience depression, anxiety, physical pain, low self-esteem, emotional distress, cognitive decline, and a diminished ability to regulate their emotions. These effects not only have a detrimental impact on teenagers themselves but also contribute to social problems such as substance abuse, alcohol addiction, and excessive cell phone use.
3. Factors for Phone Addiction
Wanlin Zhang used the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, mobile phone App-Based Addiction Scale, the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to examine the 50,855 secondary school pupils’ demographic and psychological characteristics. Social media addiction, gaming addiction and smartphone addiction are all related to family environment, demographics and psychosocial factors. Sadness and anxiety are just two behavioural addictions that are significantly influenced by negative psychological factors. Young boys and girls are more likely to get hooked to their phones if they have obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [5].
The team of Qiufeng Gao investigate the factors contributing to teenagers’ addiction to mobile phones. The researchers recruited 1,766 Chinese adolescents (53.10% male and 46.90% female, aged 10 to 18 years) to complete questionnaires on family relationships, peer relationships, mobile phone addiction (MPA), and satisfaction with psychological needs. The data were examined for variable correlation using SPSS 24.0, and structural equation models were tested using Mplus 7.4. The findings indicate a negative correlation between family relationships and adolescents’ MPA. According to the study, parent-child relationships have a favourable impact on a child’s aptitude, autonomy, and relevance requirements, while peer relationships do not significantly correlate with adolescents’ MPA. This research offers assistance for the creation of successful prevention programmes for parents, policymakers, and educators and offers insightful understanding into the underlying mechanisms linking parental practises and peer interactions to mobile phone addiction in teenagers [6].
A study on the impacts of relationships to family and solitude on the use of cell phones by college students was undertaken by Guanru Li. The study involved a questionnaire survey with 2215 college students as the experimental sample. The findings revealed that a lack of family function is a significant negative factor contributing to college students’ phone addiction. As opposed to that a healthy and happy home atmosphere is linked to a reduced level of smartphone addiction. Moreover, it was discovered that loneliness had a beneficial impact on mobile phone addiction whereas solitude had a moderating influence on association between family and adolescent smartphone addiction. It was observed that adolescents with a lower ability to be alone had a poorer ability to control their mobile phone addiction [7].
An investigation into the impact of parental addiction or domestic violence on adolescent phone addiction was undertaken by Hye-Jin Kim in 2018. The study made use of information from a national survey on Internet use and utilisation conducted in 2013 by the Korea Information Agency. The findings showed that teenagers who had witnessed domestic abuse and parental drug use were more likely to develop a cell phone addiction. The research also found a strong connection between smartphone addiction, parental addiction, domestic violence among teenagers with low self-control levels. The maturity of the adolescent and the calibre of their friends were identified as factors that can help prevent teenagers from developing mobile phone addiction. Despite the study’s reliability and validity issues, the self-control and friendship questions are consistent with its conclusions. Overall, this study offers evidence that family stress may increase the likelihood of mobile phone addiction and offers recommendations to lower that risk [8].
In a study by Hong, the relationship between smartphone addiction and various uses of smartphones, stress, depression, interpersonal interactions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, home schooling was investigated. The survey involved 487 local secondary school students who completed, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Interpersonal Problems Cycle Scale (KIIP-SC), the Perceived Stress Scale, ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS). Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, smartphone addiction predictors were discovered, and correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The findings suggest that factors that can contribute to teen mobile phone addiction include gender, stress and relationship problems. Moreover, Social networking sites significantly reduce the addiction to mobile phones (e.g. music and videos). It is significant to note that the self-report questionnaire, which was a disadvantage of this study, relied on the individuals’ perceptions, which may introduce subjective bias. Therefore, the findings of this study have certain limitations, and further research is necessary to validate its accuracy [9].
4. Impact of Stress on Mobile Phone Addiction
Addiction to mobile devices has become a prevalent phenomenon in society, particularly among young people who struggle to strike a balance between their mobile phone usage and daily studies. Excessive reliance on mobile phones has been found to cause a range of psychological issues and have negative effects on society. Numerous studies have found a significant link between college students’ ability to exercise cognitive restraint and their addiction to mobile phones. Overdependence on mobile phones hampers individuals’ cognitive control function, resulting in a decline in inhibitory control and ultimately leading to addiction. During their developmental phase, teenagers possess a strong curiosity, yet their mental and cognitive abilities are still immature, making them lack in self-regulation. Due to this incomplete self-restraint, teenagers are susceptible to becoming engrossed in the sensory stimulation and pleasure derived from mobile phone usage, which they are unable to control on their own.
The report by team of Gou examines the assumption that study pressure among middle school students directly impacts smartphone game addiction. According to the research, more intense study pressure increases the level of game addiction on mobile devices. Additionally, study pressure indirectly affects game addiction by reducing individual self-control. This suggests that increased study pressure is linked to decreased levels of self-control and increased levels of addiction to mobile phone games. The study conducted a questionnaire survey with 750 middle school students to investigate the influence of study pressure and self-control on mobile phone game addiction. The findings provide valuable insights for interventions targeting mobile phone game addiction among middle school students. The survey findings indicate a positive correlation between study pressure and addiction to mobile games. It was observed that individuals with high study pressure are more likely to be addicted to mobile games. Furthermore, the study revealed that individuals with higher self-control possess stronger time management skills, and study pressure negatively affects self-control. The greater the study pressure, the more it depletes self-control resources, resulting in lower self-control. The fact that this study was carried out during the COVID-19 preventive and control phase should be noted as it could have influenced the respondents. Additionally, the study acknowledges limitations such as insufficient sample size and low diversity, highlighting the need for further investigation to enhance the credibility of the findings [10].
5. Discussion and Suggestion
5.1. Overall Conclusion
Family dysfunction, especially marital violence and parental addiction is closely associated to adolescent smartphone addiction. Additionally, the quality of peer relationships plays a significant role in protecting adolescents from psychosocial issues like anxiety and depression. Relationship issues and stress were discovered to be positively associated with smartphone addiction in female students. Furthermore, adolescents who faced negative family pressure were more prone to excessive phone addiction, while those with high self-control and positive friendship qualities were less inclined to develop such addiction.
5.2. Recommendations
The interviews with the 70 college students were semi-structured and in-depth by Dai Cheng in 2021 to examine pathological habit patterns and psychological inclinations associated with routine mobile phone use. The material from the qualitative interviews was examined several times by the researchers. When they combined the data, they first identified fundamental discrete notions at the individual level, they looked holistically at dominating implicit thematic alignments. Data from the study show that detox applications are effective at reducing smartphone usage. However, it also showed that proactive goal-setting and mental focus were the best methods for reaching self-regulatory objectives. The research findings imply that gaming, streaming media, entertainment, and social networking satisfaction are frequently linked to youths’ excessive mobile phone use. According to the results, proactive goal planning and mental attention are the best strategies for achieving self-regulatory objectives [11].
The report analyzed a significant number of research reports. However, the background and education level of the respondents in each experiment were inadequate, resulting in uncertainty and errors in the results. To improve the paper, it is suggested to increase the number of experimental samples, enhance the background information of the survey subjects, and conduct more comprehensive longitudinal research. Additionally, action research design and comparative research design are recommended.
5.3. Limitation
This study is impossible to say if teenage behaviours differ between cultures because of the small sample size and lack of diverse backgrounds. The use of cross-sectional studies in some questionnaires may potentially influence the respondents’ mindset. Cross-sectional studies with participants of various races cannot simply represent all periods, especially psychological phenomena that are strongly influenced by social culture, age changes, and research results made in particular periods, without discovering the real causes. Thus, the question of causation, order, and consistency cannot be addressed by cross-sectional investigations. Additionally, this study solely focuses on the causes of addiction and does not delve into other aspects such as the functions of mobile phone addiction or strategies to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to their phones. Future research should aim to investigate effective measures to mitigate phone addiction.
6. Conclusion
According to the study, stress, peer relationships, and family parenting style all substantially predicted teen mobile phone addiction. Additionally, the ability to be alone was revealed to be a moderator of the relationship between family functioning and loneliness as well as the relationship between family functioning and smartphone addiction. The authors’ knowledge of the relationships between these parameters and teen phone addiction is improved by this study and the experimental inquiry. It highlights the importance of considering the interplay between environmental and personal factors in understanding mobile phone addiction in this age group.