The Relationship between Smartphone Addiction, Parent–Child Relationship, Loneliness and Self-Efficacy among Senior High School Students in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Yao-Chung Cheng, Tian-Ai Yang, Jin-Chuan Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: smartphone addiction; parent–child relationship; loneliness; self-efficacy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9475

This study explores the link between smartphone addiction in senior high-school students, parent–child relationship, loneliness, and self-efficacy on the basis of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social cognitive theory (SCT). A survey of 2172 students (1205 female students, 966 male students; mean age = 16.58 years, SD = 0.78) from 32 senior high schools in Taiwan was conducted. Moderation mediation analysis was performed using Model 14 of SPSS PROCESS-macro to test the hypotheses of this study. The result showed that the parent–child relationship was negatively related both to smartphone addiction and loneliness, which mediated the link between parent–child relationship and smartphone addiction. Self-efficacy was also found to moderate the level of loneliness related to smartphone addiction. Specifically, loneliness will ease when the parent–child relationship improves, and smartphone addiction will accordingly lessen. It was also discovered that the elevation of self-efficacy could mitigate the level of addiction. Lastly, this study provided parents, education agencies, and other policymakers in the education sector with implications based on these findings. Preventive measures for smartphone addiction and recommendations for future investigations are also given.