Mobile Phone Overuse Among Elementary School Students in Korea Factors Associated With Mobile Phone Use as a Behavior Addiction

This research was conducted to examine the relationships among mobile phone use, anxiety, and parental attitudes toward child-rearing in a convenience sample of 351 Grade 6 elementary school students. There were 157 boys and 194 girls. A mobile phone overuse questionnaire, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Parental Attitude Inventory were used for data collection. The data were analyzed by the t test, analysis of variance, hierarchical regression, and descriptive analysis using SPSS WIN 18.0. Mobile phone use was greater in girls than in boys, and the difference was statistically significant. Mobile phone use was positively correlated with anxiety, and it was negatively correlated with parental child-raising attitudes. Mobile phone use in girls was mainly affected by anxiety, and in boys, it was significantly affected by the maternal child-raising attitude. This research provides basic data for parent education, school policy, and prevention programs about mobile phone overuse that support mental health improvement in the individual, family, and community.