Smoking or Smartphone Addiction? The Role of Smoking-Related Motivations as Mediators in Youth Clusters

A current debate in addiction research concerns the linkage between behavioral addictions (e.g., smartphone and Internet) and chemical addictions (e.g., smoking and drinking). In this study, we investigated associations between smoking and smartphone addiction by examining correlation with motives for smoking as mediators. Participants were high school and university students ( N = 295; aged between 15 and 30 years). Using cluster analysis, we identified four clusters. Cluster 1 was not susceptible to either smoking or smartphone addiction. In Cluster 2, smoking frequency was high but these youth were not addicted to smartphone use. Cluster 3 was characterized by a high susceptibility to smartphone addiction but low levels of smoking motives and low rate of smoking. In Cluster 4, smartphone addiction occurred together with a high smoking rate. High school students and university students showed different cluster categorizations. Based on these results, we can conclude that youth’s susceptibility to addiction may be influenced by motivations.