Background Adolescent dependency on smartphones is the highest among all age groups. Adolescents can be influenced to evaluate their body image by popular ideals about beautiful bodies via smartphone content, which can cause body image distortion. This study aimed to examine the association between body image distortion and smartphone dependency and the duration of smartphone usage among Korean adolescents.
Methods This study used data from the 16th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2020), and included 42,981 participants, who were grouped according to self-reported duration of smartphone usage and smartphone dependency, as measured by a questionnaire. Body image distortion is defined as an exaggerated subjective body image compared to the actual body image. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of body image distortion on smartphone dependency and usage time after adjusting for various factors related to body image distortion.
Results Among the 42,981 participants, both moderate and high levels of smartphone dependency were associated with body image distortion in boys (moderate: adjusted OR [aOR], 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01–1.22; high: aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05–1.32) and girls (moderate: aOR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05–1.23; high: aOR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.18–1.42) compared to the low-level dependency group. However, no significant association was found between smartphone usage duration and body image distortion.
Conclusion Our study demonstrated that moderate to high levels of smartphone dependency are associated with body image distortion in adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary to establish strategies for checking and managing adolescents’ smartphone dependence.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Excessive smartphone use, smartphone dependency and body image distortion in Korean adolescents Young Gyu Cho Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2025; 46(2): 58. CrossRef
Social Media Use and Body Image Dissatisfaction Among University Students of Health Sciences in Saudi Arabia Ihdaa J Abdulwahab, Jumana H Khouja, Noha A Alzahrani, Amina Bargawi Cureus.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Background Smartphone usage is indispensably beneficial to people’s everyday lives. However, excessive smartphone usage has been associated with physical and mental health problems. This study aimed to evaluate the association of smartphone usage with depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts in Korean adolescents.
Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 54,603 Korean adolescent participants (26,930 male and 27,673 female) in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2017 who reported their smartphone use. We performed multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association of smartphone use with mental health after adjusting for relevant covariates.
Results Among the participants, 25.6% of male students and 38.4% of female students reported using their smartphone for at least 30 hours per week. As time duration of smartphone usage increased, the risk of experiencing depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempt tended to increase, with odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of 1.18 (1.10–1.26), 1.18 (1.08–1.29), and 1.34 (1.11–1.60), respectively, for high smartphone usage compared with low smartphone usage. These associations remained significant with only slight change in odds ratios after consideration of problems that may be caused by smartphone usage, such as conflicts with family members or peers, or disturbance in school work.
Conclusion Smartphone overuse was independently associated with an increased risk of mental health problems, which did not seem to be mediated by the problems caused by smartphone usage.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Factors Influencing Suicidal Ideation in Female Adolescents With Smartphone Overdependence Hyeongyeong Yoon Journal of Pediatric Health Care.2025; 39(2): 225. CrossRef
Excessive smartphone use, smartphone dependency and body image distortion in Korean adolescents Young Gyu Cho Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2025; 46(2): 58. CrossRef
COVID-19 lockdown related stress among young adults: The role of drug use disorder, neurotic health symptoms, and pathological smartphone use Groupson-Paul Okechukwu, Macpherson Uchenna Nnam, Clement E Obadimu, David O. Iloma, Peter Offu, Fidelis Okpata, Emmanuel Ugochukwu Nwakanma Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice.2024; 24(2): 192. CrossRef
How does smartphone addiction affect the lives of adolescents socially and academically?: a systematic review study Sinem Cilligol Karabey, Abdulkadir Palanci, Zeynep Turan Psychology, Health & Medicine.2024; 29(3): 631. CrossRef
Shifting Mindsets; A Critical Commentary on Child Protection and Welfare, Disability, and Online Risk Through Critical Literature Review Rose Doolan Maher, Susan Flynn, Julie Byrne Child Care in Practice.2024; 30(1): 38. CrossRef
Latent class analysis of health behaviors, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors among Korean adolescents Mi-Sun Lee, Hooyeon Lee Journal of Affective Disorders.2024; 354: 339. CrossRef
Association between smartphone overdependence and mental health in South Korean adolescents: a secondary data analysis Hyeseon Yun, Eun Kyoung Choi Child Health Nursing Research.2024; 30(2): 87. CrossRef
Problematic Smartphone Use and Its Impact on the Psychology of Adolescents in Malaysia Hazwanim Hashim, Hizlinda Tohid, Teh Rohaila Jamil, Nik Ruzyanei Nik Jaafar, Shamsul Azhar Shah Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.2023; 31(2): 505. CrossRef
Increased psychological distress among young people before and during the fifth wave of COVID-19 after two years of pandemic in Hong Kong: a 6-month longitudinal study Stephanie MY Wong, Eric YH Chen, YN Suen, Winky Ho, Sherry KW Chan, Edwin HM Lee, KT Chan, Simon SY Lui, Michael TH Wong, Christy LM Hui BMC Psychiatry.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Does Excessive Smartphone Use Reduce Physical Activity in Adolescents? Soo Young Kim Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2023; 44(5): 247. CrossRef
Problematic Smartphone Use and Its Relationship With Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation Among South Korean Adolescents Mi-Sun Lee, Hooyeon Lee Psychiatry Investigation.2023; 20(9): 843. CrossRef
Smartphone addiction and perceived pain among nursing students: a cross-sectional study Kamuran Özdil, Aslıhan Çatıker, Gizem Deniz Bulucu Büyüksoy Psychology, Health & Medicine.2022; 27(10): 2246. CrossRef
Cortical surface variation in individuals with excessive smartphone use Dusan Hirjak, Gudrun M. Henemann, Mike M. Schmitgen, Larissa Götz, Nadine D. Wolf, Katharina M. Kubera, Fabio Sambataro, Tagrid Leménager, Julian Koenig, Robert Christian Wolf Developmental Neurobiology.2022; 82(4): 277. CrossRef
Association of Smartphone Use With Body Image Distortion and Weight Loss Behaviors in Korean Adolescents Sohyeon Kwon, Rockli Kim, Jong-Tae Lee, Jinho Kim, Sunmi Song, Seongcheol Kim, Hannah Oh JAMA Network Open.2022; 5(5): e2213237. CrossRef
Impact of Digital Literacy and Problematic Smartphone Use on Life Satisfaction: Comparing Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Busra Taskin, Chiho Ok European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education.2022; 12(9): 1311. CrossRef
Combined Effects of Smartphone Overdependence and Stress on Depression and Suicide-Related Behaviors among High School Students Hyesun Kim Healthcare.2022; 10(9): 1671. CrossRef
Smartphone Usage before and during COVID-19: A Comparative Study Based on Objective Recording of Usage Data Khansa Chemnad, Sameha Alshakhsi, Mohamed Basel Almourad, Majid Altuwairiqi, Keith Phalp, Raian Ali Informatics.2022; 9(4): 98. CrossRef
Excessive Smartphone Use Is Associated With Health Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults Yehuda Wacks, Aviv M. Weinstein Frontiers in Psychiatry.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Fatores relacionados à dependência do smartphone em adolescentes de uma região do Nordeste brasileiro Paula Pessoa de Brito Nunes, Ana Paula Vasconcellos Abdon, Claudiana Batista de Brito, Francisco Valter Miranda Silva, Ionara Conceição Araújo Santos, Daniele de Queiroz Martins, Phelipe Maia Fonseca Meira, Mirna Albuquerque Frota Ciência & Saúde Coletiva.2021; 26(7): 2749. CrossRef
Excessive and Problematic Smartphone Use and Poor Mental Health in Adolescents Young Gyu Cho Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2020; 41(2): 73. CrossRef
First
Prev
