A Test of Diverse Hypotheses about Smartphone Addiction and Juvenile Violent Delinquency: A Panel Study

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between smartphone addiction and online and offline violent delinquency, adds relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, and intends to test four hypotheses for relationships among three variables. There are four hypotheses; first, strain-inducing hypothesis that smartphone addiction has negative influences on relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, which in turn affect both online and offline violent delinquency, second, strain reducing or spurious relationship hypothesis that relationships with parents, teachers, and peers explain both smartphone addiction and violent delinquency and the relationship between smartphone addiction and violent delinquency is spurious, third, opportunity hypothesis that the effects of relationships with parents, teachers, and friends on violent delinquency are mediated by smartphone addiction, and fourth, condition hypothesis that expects the interaction effect between smartphone addiction and relationships with parents, teachers, and peers on violent delinquency. This study tests relative efficacy among four hypotheses by using data from a panel study. Results show that smartphone addiction has effects on both relationships with parents and teachers, but it has not indirect but direct effect on both online and offline violent delinquency, which does not support strain-inducing hypothesis. Instead, relationships with parents and teachers have indirect effects on online violent delinquency through smartphone addiction, which supports opportunity hypothesis, but it is also shown that they have also indirect effects on offline violent delinquency and relationships with teachers and peers have direct effects on online violent delinquency. Results also do not support spurious hypothesis, and it is also shown that condition hypothesis is not supported. Overall, the effect of smartphone addiction is significant on both online and offline violent delinquency.