Effect of Parental Negligence on Mobile Phone Dependency Among Vulnerable Social Groups: Mediating Effect of Peer Attachment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perceived parental negligence and reliance on mobile phone usage among youth in vulnerable social groups, and whether peer attachment mediates this association. Specifically, we aimed to provide in-depth information on the relationship between perceived parental negligence and mobile phone dependency by examining the mediating effects of three subfactors of peer attachment: communication, trust, and isolation. For this purpose, we analyzed the longitudinal data of 485 elementary school students in grades 4 to 6 who were attending a community children’s center. The results were as follows: (1) parental negligence had a statistically significant positive effect on all subfactors of peer attachment; (2) while communication and trust were not significantly related to mobile phone dependency, isolation was related to mobile phone dependency; and (3) while perceived parental negligence did not have a direct effect on mobile phone dependency, it did have an indirect effect via isolation (a dimension of peer attachment).