A Systematic Overview of Adolescents’ Smartphone Habits and Internet Addiction During the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

In order to prevent the spread of the virus during the Covid-19 epidemic period, measures such as maintaining social distance, quarantine practices, and keeping schools closed have been taken in many countries. In this process, individuals' internet use has also increased in order to restore interpersonal relationships that have decreased with staying at home. In addition, the transfer of educational activities, which are risky to be carried out face-to-face during the epidemic period, to online platforms, as in many countries, brought about an increase in the time spent on devices with internet providers in adolescents. For this reason, it is important to evaluate the results of studies examining the concepts of internet and smartphone addiction in relation to the use of the internet in the Covid-19 period. In this context, in this systematic review, "What is the status of adolescents' smartphone and internet addictions in the Covid-19 Era?" The question has been tried to be answered. As a result of the searches made in the databases, fourteen studies were reached and these studies were examined in depth. The findings showed that adolescents’ internet/smartphone addictions were higher than before the epidemic, the prevalence of internet/smartphone addictions increased in general, and internet/smartphone addictions were associated with adolescents' mental disorders and problems.

Internet addiction of university students in the Covid-19 process

“…In Turkey, the growing dependence on digital platforms is reflected by the transition towards e-government applications and the increase in distance education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 36 , 37 ]. According to Yılmaz, Aydoğdu, and Koctürk (2022) [ 24 ], the pandemic has worsened internet and smartphone addictions among students, which are now more closely linked to mental health problems.…”

“…This highlights the importance of educational interventions aimed at promoting healthy digital habits among students. The increasing trend of IA, which is linked to a range of psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, social isolation, low self-esteem and loneliness, makes it almost imperative for educators to take action on this issue [ [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] ].…”