The Moderating Role of Online Privacy Awareness in the Relationship Between Smartphone Addiction and Online Grooming Risk in Adolescents

Adolescents' increasing dependence on smartphones has heightened concerns about vulnerability to online risks, including online grooming risk. However, the processes linking smartphone addiction to online grooming risk, and the roles of online privacy awareness and phubbing behavior (ignoring others in face-to-face interactions due to smartphone use), remain insufficiently understood, especially in clinical populations. This cross-sectional study involved 182 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years who were referred to a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic in Türkiye. Participants completed self-report measures of smartphone addiction, online grooming risk, phubbing behavior, and online privacy awareness. Data were analyzed using correlation analyses, hierarchical regression analyses, and moderation analyses conducted with Hayes' PROCESS macro. Smartphone addiction was positively associated with online grooming risk and phubbing behavior and negatively associated with online privacy awareness. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that smartphone addiction significantly predicted online grooming risk after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Online privacy awareness acted as a protective factor by directly reducing online grooming risk and by moderating the relationship between smartphone addiction and online grooming risk. Phubbing behavior did not independently predict online grooming risk in multivariate models. Smartphone addiction represents a direct risk factor for online grooming among adolescents, whereas online privacy awareness plays an important protective role.