20% of S. Korean smartphone users at risk of overdependence, government study finds

Posted on : 2020-03-08 18:49 KST Modified on : 2020-03-08 18:49 KST
Young children are most vulnerable to digital addiction and dysfunction

A new study by the South Korean government finds that 20% of smartphone users last year were at risk of overdependence, with the sharpest increase observed among young children.

On Feb. 20, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency released the results of a fact-finding survey about smartphone overdependence that was carried out on 28,592 South Korean internet users between the ages of three and 69.

The at-risk group for smartphone overdependence combines the high-risk group and the latent-risk group, while excluding ordinary users. This represents individuals who prioritize smartphone use in their everyday life (salience), have a reduced ability to control use (regulation failure) and experience physical, psychological, or social problems (problematic results).

According to the results of the study, users at risk for smartphone overdependence account for 20.0% of South Korean smartphone users, up 0.9 points from the previous year (19.1%). This group has been increasing every year, hitting 16.2% in 2015, 17.8% in 2016, and 18.6% in 2017. The age group with the biggest increase last year was young children (ages 3-9), in which the at-risk percentage rose by 2.2 points from the previous year. Ranked by amount of increase, the other groups were the elderly (2.0%), teenagers (0.9%), and young and middle-aged adults (0.7%).

Smartphone dependence among children and teenagers was higher for families in which the parents were at-risk for overdependence or were both working. The survey found that, for parents categorized as ordinary users, 26.3% of young children were in the at-risk group for overdependence; but for parents in the at-risk group, that percentage increased to 36.9%. The percentage of young children in the at-risk group was higher when both parents were working (26.1%) than when only one parent was working (20.8%).

Individuals and organizations were found to take different approaches to dealing with smartphone overdependence. While individuals generally seek to reduce their smartphone dependence by taking up a different leisure activity (41.9%) or by seeking the advice and assistance of friends and family (25.2%), the options most frequently chosen by companies and governments are posting warnings of about excessive use (40.4%) and training people about overcoming smartphone overdependence (36.5%), respectively.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to provide more hands-on preventative education for young children and to set up a website within the year to provide comprehensive information about services for preventing and addressing “digital dysfunction.”

By Shin Da-eun, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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