The smartphone has many attractive attributes and characteristics that make it
highly addictive, particularly in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the
prevalence of young adolescents in risk of smartphone addiction and the psychological
factors associated with smartphone addiction. 490 middle-school students completed a selfquestionnaire
measuring levels of smartphone addiction, behavioral and emotional problems,
self-esteem, anxiety, and adolescent-parent communication. 128(26.61%) adolescents were
in high risk of smartphone addiction. Adolescents in high risk of smartphone addiction
showed significantly more severe levels of behavioral and emotional problems, lower selfesteem
and poorer quality of communication with their parents. Multiple regression analysis
revealed that the severity of smartphone addiction was associated with aggressive
behavior(β=0.593, t=3.825) and self-esteem(β=-0.305, t=-2.258). Further exploratory and
confirmatory studies should consider different sites, demographics, technological mobile
devices, platforms, and applications.
