| Popis: |
Most studies of problematic smartphone use focus on younger participants in a single country, which makes global comparisons across the lifespan difficult. To help resolve this issue, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 37,545 participants aged 18 to 90 from 181 countries and subdivisions. The participants completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale (Short Version), which ranges from 10 to 60; higher scores indicate more problematic use. The results showed that women scored 2.96 units higher than men across the lifespan, and each year of age predicted a decrease of 0.18 units. The 31 countries with at least 100 participants showed a fairly consistent pattern: women scored higher than men in every country (B = 0.25 to 5.85) and almost all countries showed a downward slope with age (B = −0.40 to 0.05). The shape of this slope varied, with a linear decline in the United States and non-linear patterns in several other countries. Europe had the lowest overall problematic smartphone use scores and Southeast Asia had the highest. On the country level, problematic use correlated with the estimated daily time spent using mobile internet (r = .66). This global sample, perhaps the largest in the field, helps clarify the relationship between basic demographics and problematic smartphone use. |
