Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/yvjrdcv11y
THE RELATIONSHIP OF CHILDREN'S SMARTPHONE USE WITH WELL-BEING AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
VANESA VARGA
ANA ŽULEC
MATEA BODROŽIĆ SELAK
orcid.org/0000-0003-0697-3631
MARINA MERKAŠ
Abstract
This work has been supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project number UIP-2019-04-7547 “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behaviour and effects on the child development”.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between some aspects of children’s smartphone use (time and motives for smartphone use), indicators of well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect), and school achievement. Participants were 283 children (59,2% girls) aged from 10 to 15 (median 12) years and one of their parents who agreed to participate in the project “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behaviour and effects on child development”. A new scale for children’s motives for smartphone use was developed and it showed good psychometric properties. Children’s life satisfaction was assessed using the Short multidimensional life-satisfaction scale (Seligson et al.,
2003), positive and negative effects were assessed using the PANAS-C scale (Ebesutani
et al., 2012), and school achievement was measured according to the Croatian grading
scale. Results show that as they grow older, children tend to spend more time using smartphones,
and their life satisfaction declines. Girls tend to experience more negative affect,
while boys tend to experience more positive affect. Girls are also more prone to use
smartphone for communication and their school tasks. More usage of smartphones for
entertainment is related to higher levels of negative effect in children, while more usage
of smartphones for communication is related to higher positive affect and lower school
achievement in children. The obtained results are discussed and represent a direction for
future research, pointing to the examination of the content to which children and young
people are exposed on smartphones and social media.
Keywords
children; time and motives for smartphone use; well-being; school achievement
Hrčak ID:
289581
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2022.
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