The relationship between smartphone addiction and depression in adolescents 10-19 years old admitted to Di̇cle University Medical Faculty Family Medicine outpatient clinic

Introduction and Aim: Smart phones, which have rapidly entered all areas of our lives with the developing technologies of the 21st century, have brought some problems as well as many benefits.The most important one of these problems is smartphone addiction and depression of which diagnosis rate is rapidly increasing in adolescents. This study was carried out with the aims to evaluate the levels of phone addiction in adolescents aged 10-19 who applied to hospitals of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, and also to examine the depression levels of adolescents and its relationship with smartphone addiction. Material and Methods:159 adolescents aged between 10-19 years, who applied to hospitals of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine between 01.06.2020 and 01.08.2020, were included in this cross-sectional study. In addition to the sociodemographic data form, the smartphone addiction scale and the depression scale for children were filled out by the adolescents. The analyis of our data was carried out by using SPSS 18 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Results:Of the adolescents participating in the study, 95 (59.7%) were girls and 64 (40.3%) were boys. The average age of the participants was 15.9±2.6, and the average number of the siblings that they have was 4.6±2.2. It was found out that they were generally primary school graduates when the education levels of the mothers and fathers of the participants were examined. While the average score of the smartphone addiction scale obtained by the adolescents participating in the questionnaire was found to be 28.0±11.8, it was found that the average score obtained from the childhood depression scale was 12.4±7.7. When the scores of the childhood depression scale and the smartphone addiction scale obtained by adolescents participating in the study were compared according to gender, it was found that the scores of the females on the childhood depression scale (p=0.05) and of the males on the smartphone addiction scale (p=0.017) were higher and statistically significant. When the economic status of the families of the participants and their scores on the childhood depression scale were compared, it was found that the depression scores of the children of families with poor economic status were higher and statistically significant (p=0.032). It was observed that smoking adolescents had higher scores on both smartphone addiction scale (p=0.002) and childhood depression scale (p=0.017) and they were more prone to both smartphone addiction and depression. It was found that smartphone addiction scores of adolescents who were members of social networking sites were higher and statistically significant (p<0.001) and adolescents who needed to control their smartphones more than 20 times a day had a higher tendency to both smartphone addiction (p<0.001) and depression (p = 0.036). Of the adolescents participating in the study, those who perceive themselves as smartphone addicts had higher scores from the childhood depression scale (p<0.001) and the smartphone addiction scale (p=0.035) and it was found to be statistically significant. In our study, when the scores from the childhood depression scale and the smartphone addiction scale were evaluated, it was observed that the possibility of depression increased as the family's economic situation worsened and both depression and smartphone addiction increased in smokers. In addition, it was observed that those who checked their phones more often and who were members of social networking sites had higher smartphone addiction. Conclusion:It was found that smartphone addiction and depression affect each other in adolescents, and these levels differ according to the variables of the family's economic status, smoking status, member ship to social networking sites and how often the smartphone is checked. It may be suggested to carry out projects to explain the short and longterm harmful effects of smoking and to aim to use the technology correctly. It is seen that studies with larger samples in the same age group are needed. KEYWORDS: Adolescent, smartphone addiction, depression