Shinah Kim
Sungkyunkwan University
I live in Seoul. I am a first daughter in my family. I was interested in child development and thinking of my childhood, this is one reason why I am studying child psychology & education. Now I am interest in public service for child and adolescent after the overseas volunteer program.
Objectives Korean youth, who live in a country that is the number one user of high-speed internet and Smartphones, represent “digital natives”(Prensky, 2001). Problematic behaviors of adolescents in the online world,... [ view full abstract ]
Objectives Korean youth, who live in a country that is the number one user of high-speed internet and Smartphones, represent “digital natives”(Prensky, 2001). Problematic behaviors of adolescents in the online world, however, have emerged as a serious social issue. Given the urgent need to address new forms of risks related to technological advancement, as the internet, this study attempts to examine the mechanism of online deviant behavior among adolescents guided by the routine activities theory(Figure 1).
Methods Two waves of the nationally representative Korea Child and Youth Panel Study (N=1,780; Mage=13(13.6)years; Mfemale=47.4%) were analyzed using moderated mediation regression models. The dependent variable was online deviant behavior. The independent variable, negative parenting was represented by parental maltreatment. The mediating variable was depression and the moderating variable was mobile phone dependency. Demographic and family variables were included as statistical controls.
Results
Parental maltreatment (Coeff = 0.258, p<.001) predicted depression. Depression (Coeff = .038, p<.01), mobile phone dependency (Coeff = .023, p<.05), and interaction between depression and mobile phone dependency (Coeff = -.011, p<.05) predicted online deviant behavior. Depression fully mediated parental maltreatment and online deviant behavior relationship (Coeff = 0.003, BC95%CI= 0.0014, 0.0061), and this mediation was moderated by mobile phone dependency when mobile phone dependency was at low to moderate levels (Coeff = 0.003, BC95%CI= 0.0007, 0.0063), but not at high levels(Table 1).
Conclusions
The findings demonstrated that adolescent’s mental health and Smartphone dependency represent a key mechanism in determining the association between parental maltreatment and online deviant behavior. However, the story of this study may not be applicable for youth who have high levels of mobile phone dependency. In future studies, identifying other factors that contribute to the mechanism that links parental maltreatment and risky online behavior among high-risk groups, such as smart phone addiction is warranted.
