The Effect of Children's Smartphone Dependence on Cyber Delinquency and Real Delinquency: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Cooperation

Objectives The purpose of this study is to verify the mediating effect of cooperation in the process of children's dependence on smartphones affecting cyber delinquency and real delinquency. Methods The subjects of the study are 2,404 first-year middle school students, which are panel data for the second year (2019) of ｢the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) 2018｣. The relationship among the research variables was examined with Pearson correlation using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 23.0, and the influence and the mediating effect were analyzed by structural equation. The direct and indirect effects and total effects were verified by two-sided test using bootstrap in the 95% confidence interval. Results The main results are as follows. First, real delinquency has a positive correlation with smartphone dependence, while the first and second factors of cooperation has a negative correlation. Cyber delinquency showed a positive correlation with smartphone dependence. On the other hand, the first and second factors of cooperation has a negative correlation. Second, it was found that smartphone dependence directly affects cyber and real delinquency, and cooperation is partially mediated in this process. Conclusions The results of this study confirm that smartphone dependence is an important factor in the process of affecting real delinquency and cyber delinquency, suggesting that it is necessary to find ways for cooperative activities for children.