Smartphone Addiction, Happiness and Life Satisfaction among Adolescents

Smartphones have become a natural part of adolescents’ everyday lives, but excessive or problematic use can negatively affect their subjective well-being. The present study examined the relationships between smartphone addiction, happiness, and life satisfaction among school-going adolescents. A cross-sectional correlational design was employed with a sample of 394 adolescents aged 11–18 years drawn from schools in Saran and Siwan districts of Bihar, India. Participants completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Pearson’s product-moment correlations showed that smartphone addiction was significantly and negatively associated with happiness (r = −.605, p < .001) and life satisfaction (r = −.504, p < .001). Happiness and life satisfaction were positively correlated (r = .355, p < .001). Simple linear regression analyses further indicated that smartphone addiction significantly predicted happiness, accounting for 36.6% of the variance (R² = .366, p < .001), and life satisfaction, accounting for 25.4% of the variance (R² = .254, p < .001). The findings indicate that higher levels of smartphone addiction are linked to reduced subjective well-being among adolescents. These results highlight the need for awareness programmes and interventions promoting balanced smartphone use to support adolescent mental health in the Indian context.