IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v12y2025i1d10.1057_s41599-025-04689-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Problematic smartphone use, online classes, and middle school students’ social-emotional competencies during COVID 19: mediation by lifestyle and peers

Author

Listed:
  • Sojin Yoon

    (Korea University)

  • Na Yeon Lee

    (Korea University)

  • Sehee Hong

    (Korea University)

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate student- and school-level variables influencing middle school students’ social and emotional competencies and to verify the mediation effects among these variables. Data were obtained from the Seoul Education Longitudinal Study 2020, and a multilevel path analysis was conducted. The analysis revealed that at the student level, higher problematic smartphone use was associated with decreased exercise, reading, and sleep, and lower levels of social and emotional competencies. Additionally, less exercise and reading were related to lower social and emotional competencies. At the school level, a higher proportion of online classes was associated with better peer relationships and higher social and emotional competencies. In mediation analysis, exercise and reading mediated the relationship between problematic smartphone use and social and emotional competencies at the student level. At the school level, peer relationships mediated the relationship between the proportion of online classes and social and emotional competencies. Based on the results, specific strategies for enhancing middle school students’ social and emotional competencies were discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sojin Yoon & Na Yeon Lee & Sehee Hong, 2025. "Problematic smartphone use, online classes, and middle school students’ social-emotional competencies during COVID 19: mediation by lifestyle and peers," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04689-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04689-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-04689-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-025-04689-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04689-z. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.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.