The relationship between school atmosphere, school connectedness, affective school engagement, and adolescents’ smartphone and social media problematic use

Adolescents and young adults are the most vulnerable population for developing problematic smartphone and social media use, with negative consequences for their mental health and well-being. How students perceive the school ambiance is likely to be a key factor of potential risk and protection for adolescents' problematic use of smartphones and social media, but more scientific evidence is needed. To investigate the links between problematic smartphone/social media use and school atmosphere, school connectedness, and school affective engagement, 529 Italian high school students were surveyed. To analyze the collected data, statistical methods such as Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used. The findings of the study revealed that all the variables were significantly correlated and there was a negative correlation between smartphone/social media use and school atmosphere, school connectedness, and affective school engagement. Among the predictor variables, school atmosphere and connectedness were the unique predictors both of problematic smartphone and social media use. Longitudinal research should be employed to confirm these findings and provide evidence for directionality. Education of media use in school in combination with adolescents feeling comfortable in their class may play an important role in preventing problematic smartphone and social media use.