Predictors of problematic cell phone use among Costa Rican adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to research the effects of family support and peer group support, along with the life satisfaction, on the problematic use of cell phones among costa rican adolescents. Based on data from the national survey Global Kids Online, structural equation models were developed in order to predict the problematic use of cell phones of adolescents investigated in this study (M=14.8, n = 530). The main findings indicate that peer support has a positive and direct correlation with the problematic use of the cell phone, while the perception of the life satisfaction is correlated in the opposite direction, functioning as a protective factor. Peer and family support have an indirect protective effect against the problematic use of cell phones, stronger in the case of family support.