{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T06:11:54Z","timestamp":1777961514635,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777939200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Adolescent depression is a major public health concern, yet the relative contributions of smartphone use duration and perceived loneliness remain unclear. This study examined their independent and comparative associations with depressive symptoms in a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 54,653 middle and high school students from the 2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a single self-reported item. Weekday and weekend smartphone use (h\/day) were modeled as continuous variables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted adjusting for sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, perceived stress, and anxiety symptoms. Nagelkerke pseudo-\n                      <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      was used to assess incremental explanatory value.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Weekday smartphone use showed a small positive association with depressive symptoms (OR = 1.02, 95% CI 1.01\u20131.03). In contrast, perceived loneliness demonstrated a strong graded association: moderate loneliness (OR = 2.54, 95% CI 2.40\u20132.68) and high loneliness (OR = 4.74, 95% CI 4.43\u20135.07) were associated with substantially higher odds of depressive symptoms. The inclusion of loneliness increased the model's explanatory power (\u0394Nagelkerke\n                      <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      = 0.163). Weekend smartphone use showed a marginal inverse association (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.98\u20131.00).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Perceived loneliness showed a substantially stronger association with depressive symptoms than smartphone use duration. These findings highlight the importance of addressing social isolation in adolescent mental health interventions, alongside promoting balanced and context-sensitive smartphone use.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1834994","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T05:32:38Z","timestamp":1777959158000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Associations of smartphone use duration and loneliness with depressive symptoms among Korean adolescents: a nationally representative cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Guifang","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Zhengzhou Normal University","place":["Zhengzhou, 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