Exploring the trajectories of problematic smartphone use in adolescence: Insights from a longitudinal study

The goal of the present study was to investigate the trajectories of problematic smartphone use among adolescents and its predictors, including self-regulation, fear of missing out (FoMO), depression, and anxiety among Canadian adolescents. A total of 2549 participants (1025 girls; M_age = 14.10 years, SD = 0.96 years) from grades 8 to 12 in Southern British Columbia, Canada, took part in the study. Self-reported problematic smartphone use was collected annually over 4 years. At Time 1, adolescents provided self-reports on self-regulation, depression, anxiety, and FoMO. Growth mixture modelling was used to examine the trajectories of problematic smartphone use. The results revealed three distinct trajectories: low-increasing-decreasing (35.5%), moderate-increasing (60.9%), and high-stable (3.6%). Multinomial logistic regression revealed that higher FoMO and depression were significant predictors of membership in the high-stable problematic smartphone use group, while better self-regulation predicted lower problematic smartphone use. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of problematic smartphone use and the importance of self-regulation and mental health in understanding problematic smartphone use trajectories among Canadian adolescents.