• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.195-204
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with smartphone dependence among adults in their 20s. The data were derived from the 2017 Survey on Smartphone Over-dependence conducted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency. There were 3,684 participants. The data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and weighted hierarchical multiple regression analysis. For the results, factors related with higher smartphone dependence of participants were duration (β=.18, p=.000) and frequency (β=.04, p=.000) of usage, gaming (β=.15, p=.000), watching videos (β=.09, p=.000), mobile shopping (β=.05, p=.000), working (β=.05, p=.010), e-mailing (β=.13, p=.000), and sports betting (β=.07, p=.000). Music (β=-.07, p=.000) and adult content (β=-.07, p=.000) significantly reduced their smartphone dependence. SNS (Social Networking Services) (β=.01, p=.358) and instant messengers (β=-.02, p=.330) were not factors related to smartphone dependence. However, instant messengers were the most used by participants and had a strong correlation with working (r=.55, p=.000). This study shows that smartphone usage patterns related with smartphone dependence among adults in their 20s are different from those of children and adolescents. These results could be used to more deeply understand smartphone dependence among adults in their 20s and plan early detection and prevention and care of dependence.