Psychological Factors Applicable to App Development for Overcoming Problematic Smartphone Use: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Objective As the importance of smartphones grows, so too do the negative side effects, such as mental health issues caused by problematic smartphone use. Therefore, to lay the foundation for developing apps that can address problematic smartphone use, we must clearly identify the psychological factors that influence it. To this end, we attempted to identify the psychological factors that influence problematic smartphone use using structural equation modeling.Methods We used data from 691 smartphone users (aged 20s to 50s) collected via an online survey from December 8, 2019, through January 17, 2020. We developed two research models based on anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, self-control, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We conducted structural equation modeling using R to identify psychological factors that influence problematic smartphone use.Results Although anxiety and depressive symptoms showed a strong correlation, anxiety symptoms did not directly influence problematic smartphone use, but rather indirectly (mediated effect) through depressive symptoms. Additionally, the lower an individual’s self-control, the more likely he or she is to be smartphone dependent. The higher the ADHD, the more problematic the smartphone use. In addition, we used single indicators of scales such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in structural equation model and confirmed good model fit.Conclusion We presented major psychological factors to be considered in developing health applications to manage and control problematic smartphone use: anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, self-control, ADHD.