Authenticity, self-control, and smartphone dependence in adolescence: Path analysis and latent profile analysis

Abstract

How adolescents present positive self-qualities on the Internet has the potential to influence the extent of their smartphone usage. We examined the effect of adolescents’ authenticity and self-control on their level of smartphone dependence. First, the relationship between the three variables was analysed using path analysis. Second, a latent profile analysis was used to identify groups with varying levels of authenticity, self-control, and smartphone dependence. Participants were 735 adolescents (mean age = 13.99 years, SD = 0.89 years; 51.97% girls) who completed self-report measures. Latent profile analysis identified groups with varying levels of smartphone dependence of medium level (48.98%), high-level (29.80%), and low-level (21.22%) by their authenticity and self-control. Pathway analysis findings indicated that as the risk of dependency rises, the levels of authenticity and self-control decline. These findings suggest implementation of prevention of smartphone dependence in adolescents by their risk profiles such as authenticity and self-control indicators.