Cellphone usage and addiction among Chinese children and adolescents and related factors/

Abstract

Objective To understand the current situation and associated factors of cellphone usage and addiction among Chi￣nese children and adolescents to provide reference for effective prevention and intervention of cellphone addiction. Methods U￣sing a stratified random sampling approach 11 213 children and adolescents and their parents from 31 provinces municipalities and autonomous regions in China were recruited and surveyed. Results The median of daily mobile phone use time among Chinese children and adolescents were 120.00 minutes as reported by either children or parents. Child's age β = 0.12 hedonic β = 0.11 and social β = 0.09 cellphone use motivations positively related to time spent on cellphone P<0.01 . Cellphone￣related parental communication β = -0.06 and knowledge β = -0.03 as well as cellphone usage on instrumental β = -0.04 or self￣representation β = -0.16 motivation negatively related to time spent on cellphone P<0.05 . Child's age β = -0.04 cellphone￣related parental communication β = -0.09 and awareness β = -0.14 cellphone use on instrumental motivation β = -0.22 were negatively associ￣ated with cellphone addiction among children and adolescents P<0.05 . Cellphone￣related parental monitoring β = 0.07 as well as cellphone usage on self￣representation motivation β = 0.03 or hedonic motivation β = 0.29 positively related to cellphone addiction in children and adolescents P<0.05 . Conclusion Time spent on mobile phone and mobile phone addiction of Chinese children and adolescents are influenced by various internal and external factors such as the mobile phone use motivation and parenting style. Future school education should help children develop scientific motivation for mobile phone use. Family education should help par￣ents develop positive parenting behaviors such as communication and awareness so as to reduce the possibility of improper mobile phone use.