Smartphone Overdependence, Life Satisfaction, and Academic Helplessness in Mothers and Adolescents: An Acter-Partner Interdependence Model Approach

Objective: The study explored the effects of mothers and their adolescent children’s smartphone overdependence on adolescents’ academic helplessness, mediated by their respective life satisfaction, and sought to examine actor-partner effects among these variables. Methods: Data were drawn from the fifth wave of the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS). A total of 2,106 mother-adolescent dyads were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model. Results: Significant actor effects were found, indicating that both mothers and adolescents’ smartphone overdependence negatively affected their own life satisfaction. However, no significant partner effects were found on each other’s life satisfaction. Comparison of the magnitude of actor effects revealed that the negative effect of adolescents’ smartphone overdependence on their own life satisfaction was greater than that of mothers. Furthermore, a significant indirect effect was observed, whereby adolescents’ smartphone overdependence influenced their academic helplessness through life satisfaction. Conclusion: These findings provide implications for educational and counseling interventions to prevent academic helplessness among adolescents. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are suggested.