Objective@#This study aimed to investigate the
prevalence of problematic
smartphone use (PSU) among
adolescents and its
association with
anxiety and
suicidal ideation. @*
Methods@#The 16th cross-sectional,
population-based
Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based
Survey was administered in 2020 and included 54,948
adolescents. We used the Korean version of the
smartphone overdependence scale and the 7-item
Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale to assess PSU and
anxiety.
Suicidal ideation was assessed through responses to the self-report question. Multiple
logistic regression analyses with complex sampling were conducted to identify the
association of PSU with
anxiety and
suicidal ideation. @*Results@#In total, 25.1% of the
adolescents reported PSU, 33.2% had
anxiety symptoms, and 10.9% had seriously considered
suicide during the past 12 months.
Girls with PSU had a higher
risk of
anxiety (adjusted
odds ratio [aOR], 2.81; 95%
confidence interval [CI], 2.65 to 2.97) and
suicidal ideation (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.64 to 1.91) than non-PSU
girls.
Boys with PSU reported more
anxiety (aOR, 2.89; 95% CI, 2.72 to 3.07) and
suicidal ideation (aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.66 to 1.99) than the non-PSU group. In addition,
girls with the lowest
household income reported more
suicidal ideation than
girls with the highest
household income (aOR, 3.40; 95% CI, 2.69 to 4.28). @*Conclusion@#This study demonstrated the
prevalence of PSU among South Korean
adolescents in 2020. The prioritization of the
detection of PSU and the identification of
psychological factors may help improve the
diagnosis and management of
mental health problems and potentially yield significant psychosocial benefits.