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Annual Expo by the Journal of Young Explorers Meta and NESEP

  • Fundamental or applied research
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  • ISBN 979-8-89480-840-6
  • NESEP/NY-CSEF event at Harvard Club in NYC

The Correlations Between Smartphone Overdependence and Adolescent Psychological Distress
Yunseo Ahn

August 12, 2025 ISBN: 979-8-89480-845-1 NESEP2025

Abstract:

Young people experience their most critical developmental phase during adolescence because their brains and mental health remain highly sensitive to stress, anxiety, and identity exploration. The growing number of smartphones has created new difficulties for young people because their excessive phone usage now stands as a major public health issue known as smartphone overdependence. The research investigates how adolescent psychological distress from depression, anxiety, and attention deficits creates a strong circular pattern with smartphone addiction behavior. The psychological theories of self-determination and escape theory show that people use smartphones as harmful coping tools to escape their negative emotions, which stem from academic stress and social problems, including FOMO. The digital addiction creates multiple severe negative effects that follow one another. The combination of cognitive deterioration, academic helplessness, blue light exposure, and psychological hyperarousal leads to severe sleep disturbances, which intensify the original psychological issues that the behavior was intended to treat. Research data from the past years demonstrates that screen time directly affects mental health in a direct proportion. The paper establishes that successful intervention requires a unified strategy that combines psychological interventions with educational system changes to teach digital skills and promote responsible phone use. The development of emotional strength requires programs that teach healthy offline activities and create supportive peer relationships in addition to digital restriction measures. A complete intervention plan which includes CBT and educational reforms will help break the ongoing pattern of digital addiction and worsening mental health problems. Smartphone usage functions as an unhealthy coping mechanism, which the Escape Theory, as proposed by Baumeister, helps explain.

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