The Relationship Between Types of Smartphone Use, Digital Literacy, and Smartphone Addiction in the Elderly

Abstract

Objective There is limited understanding of which specific factors relate to smartphone addiction in the elderly. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between types of smartphone use, digital literacy, and smartphone addiction in the elderly.Methods It used data from a survey on smartphone overdependence by the South Korea National Information Society Agency in 2019. Participants were 3,121 older people (1,627 males, 1,494 females; mean age=63.83 [standard deviation=2.88 years]). We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analysis.Results The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that smartphone usage time was positively related to smartphone addiction. Entertainment-seeking and life service types of smartphone use, and digital literacy were positively associated with smartphone addiction. Conversely, smartphone use for information-seeking and communication-seeking was negatively related to smartphone addiction.Conclusion This study suggests that it is necessary to understand different types of smartphone uses in the elderly and to educate the elderly on digital literacy to prevent smartphone addiction. In future studies, it will be necessary to re-confirm the relationship between smartphone usage type, digital literacy, and smartphone addiction in the elderly (including participants in their 70s or older).