IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i15p6439-d1201750.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Time Spent on Mobile Apps Matters: A Latent Class Analysis of Patterns of Smartphone Use among Adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Lucia Fortunato

    (Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Gianluca Lo Coco

    (Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Arianna Teti

    (Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Rubinia Celeste Bonfanti

    (Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Laura Salerno

    (Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

The aims of the present study are: (1) to determine classes of adolescents with homogeneous patterns of smartphone or social media use; and (2) to examine the level of distress across the empirically derived profiles. Three hundred and forty adolescents (M age = 15.61, SD = 1.19; 38.2% females) participated in a cross-sectional survey. Participants provided objective trace data on time spent on smartphones and applications, as well as self-reported social media addiction, social media use intensity, online social comparison, emotion dysregulation, and psychological distress. Latent class analysis (LCA) with total smartphone use categorized participants into three classes. Participants in Class 3 (19%) showed a more impaired functioning profile, with a tendency towards social media addiction and greater levels of distress. LCAs with the amount of time devoted to specific applications are more heterogeneous, and results showed that heavy use of social media apps was not consistently connected to the most impaired psychosocial profiles. Although the amount of mobile screen time can be a characteristic of problematic users, the link between social media usage and an adolescent’s psychological characteristics is mixed. More research is needed to explore the interplay between mobile screen time and social media usage among adolescents.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia Fortunato & Gianluca Lo Coco & Arianna Teti & Rubinia Celeste Bonfanti & Laura Salerno, 2023. "Time Spent on Mobile Apps Matters: A Latent Class Analysis of Patterns of Smartphone Use among Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:15:p:6439-:d:1201750
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/15/6439/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/15/6439/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fu, Linqian & Wang, Pengcheng & Zhao, Meng & Xie, Xin & Chen, Ye & Nie, Jia & Lei, Li, 2020. "Can emotion regulation difficulty lead to adolescent problematic smartphone use? A moderated mediation model of depression and perceived social support," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Natalio Extremera & Cirenia Quintana-Orts & Nicolás Sánchez-Álvarez & Lourdes Rey, 2019. "The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies on Problematic Smartphone Use: Comparison between Problematic and Non-Problematic Adolescent Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-12, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dong-Hyun Choi & Young-Su Jung, 2022. "Temperament, Character and Cognitive Emotional Regulation in the Latent Profile Classification of Smartphone Addiction in University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Siti Hajar Shahidin & Marhani Midin & Hatta Sidi & Chia Lip Choy & Nik Ruzyanei Nik Jaafar & Hajar Mohd Salleh Sahimi & Nur Aishah Che Roos, 2022. "The Relationship between Emotion Regulation (ER) and Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-26, November.
    3. Loredana Benedetto & Simone Rollo & Anna Cafeo & Gabriella Di Rosa & Rossella Pino & Antonella Gagliano & Eva Germanò & Massimo Ingrassia, 2024. "Emotional and Behavioural Factors Predisposing to Internet Addiction: The Smartphone Distraction among Italian High School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Inmaculada Méndez & Ana Belén Jorquera & Cecilia Ruiz Esteban & José Manuel García-Fernández, 2020. "Profiles of Mobile Phone Use, Cyberbullying, and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-10, November.
    5. Xie, Xiaochun & Guo, Qingtong & Wang, Pengcheng, 2021. "Childhood parental neglect and adolescent internet gaming disorder: From the perspective of a distal—proximal—process—outcome model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Shah, Zakir & Ghani, Usman & Asmi, Fahad & Wei, Lu & Qaisar, Sara, 2021. "Exposure to terrorism-related information on SNSs and life dissatisfaction: The mediating role of depression and moderation effect of social support," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:15:p:6439-:d:1201750. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.