Academic Stress and Smartphone Overdependence Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Depression and the Moderated Mediation Effect of Parental Attachment

Abstract

This study examined the mediating effect of depression and the moderated mediating effects of paternal and maternal attachment on the relationship between academic stress and smartphone overdependence among ninth-grade adolescents. Data from 1,217 participants in the 16th wave (2023) of the Panel Study on Korean Children II were analyzed using PROCESS Macro Model 7, controlling for sex and subjective socioeconomic status. Academic stress was directly associated with smartphone overdependence (B=.102, p<.001), and depression partially mediated this relationship. Both paternal and maternal attachment moderated the association between academic stress and depression (B=-.061, p=.012; B=-.077, p=.002, respectively), with weaker associations at higher attachment levels. The moderated mediation effects were significant for both paternal (Index=-.007, 95% Boot CI [-.014, -.002]) and maternal attachment (Index=-.009, 95% Boot CI [-.017, -.003]), indicating weaker indirect effects through depression at higher attachment levels. These findings suggest that parental attachment may serve as a protective resource by buffering the association between academic stress and depression and thereby weakening its indirect association with smartphone overdependence. Interventions should integrate academic stress management and depression prevention with family-based strategies to strengthen parent-adolescent attachment and communication.