Children with a "risk-avoidance" tendency have a higher risk of smartphone addiction

Professor So-Young Yoo, Department of Psychiatry, Boramae Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] A study has found that children with a risk-avoidant temperament are more likely to excessively use smartphones as a strategy to relieve negative emotions caused by stress.

Professor Yoo So-young of the Department of Psychiatry at Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, operated by Seoul National University Hospital, announced on the 11th the results of a study showing that children and adolescents with an innate 'risk-avoidance' temperament are at higher risk of smartphone addiction.

Risk-avoidance temperament is one of the four temperaments classified by psychiatrist Cloninger: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence. It refers to a tendency to have a heightened sensitivity to dangerous situations. Children with a risk-avoidant temperament tend to be cautious and prudent in everything they do and often show anxiety or sensitivity toward unfamiliar places, people, or objects.

The joint research team, including Professor Yoo So-young of Boramae Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry, Professor Choi Jung-seok of Samsung Seoul Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry, and Professor Kwon Yong-sil of Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry, conducted a clinical study titled "Understanding the Structural Factors of Smartphone Addiction" involving 184 children and adolescents with an average age of 13.2 years to analyze the relationship between personality traits and smartphone addiction.

The research team explained that the study confirmed a significant correlation between risk-avoidance temperament and smartphone addiction. They evaluated the correlations of each variable at 3 months and 6 months after the study began. Among the four temperaments, only risk-avoidance showed a strong positive correlation with smartphone addiction at all time points (p<0.01). Additionally, the mediating effect of daily stress on smartphone addiction was clinically significant only in children with a risk-avoidant temperament.

Professor Yoo said, "This study confirmed that the risk level of smartphone addiction may vary depending on the temperament of children and adolescents," and advised, "Parents raising children with a risk-avoidant temperament need to pay more careful attention to help their children reduce stress and feel emotional stability to prevent smartphone addiction."

Meanwhile, the results of this study were published in September in the international psychiatric journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.