The relationship between students' self-control, parental intervention, teachers' mediation, and smartphone addiction

This study examined the relationship between students' self-control, parental intervention, teachers' mediation, and smartphone addiction in school and daily life. Using a survey with 1668 Taiwanese middle school students, this survey research employed hierarchical regression analysis. Results revealed that gender and grade did not significantly correlate with smartphone addiction. Self-control had the strongest association with addiction (β = -0.55), followed by parental intervention (β = 0.11). The correlation between self-control and smartphone addiction varied based on parental intervention levels. The correlation between self-control and smartphone addiction was stronger among students with low parental intervention (37.1 %) than those with high intervention (17.8 %). A similar pattern was found for teacher mediation, with a stronger correlation in the high mediation group (35.9 %) than in the low group (25.9 %). The findings suggest that self-control correlates more with managing smartphone addiction than external factors do, such as parental or teacher intervention. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of fostering students' self-control through educational initiatives rather than relying primarily on external regulation by parents or teachers.