The relationship between harmful use of mobile phones and emotional-behavioral problems in self-harming adolescents: with the mediation of self-control

Adolescence is an important period for brain development, and self-harm during this period is associated with long-term consequences, including persistent psychopathology and behavioral disorders in the future.  The present study was conducted with the aim of the relationship between the harmful use of mobile phones and emotional-behavioral problems in self-harming teenagers: with the mediation of self-contro. The method of the present research was applied in terms of its purpose and structural equation model in terms of correlation method. All secondary school students of the second period of Ardabil city with a history of self-harm in the academic year of 2023-2024 formed the statistical population of the present study. 280 of these people were selected and participated in the present study through purposive sampling. Achenbach's (2001) list of children's behavioral problems, Tanji, Baumeister and Boone's (2004) self-control questionnaire and Kuhei's (2009) mobile phone addiction questionnaire were used to collect data. The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson correlation tests and multiple regression analysis and path analysis using SPSS23 and Lisrel 8/lisrel 8 software. The obtained results showed that the structural model of using harmful smartphones and externalizing problems with the mediating role of self-control has a good fit. These results showed that externalizing problems had a direct and indirect effect with the mediation of self-control on externalizing problems. (P<0.001). The results of this study showed that externalizing problems in a sample of self-harming teenagers can play a role both directly and through the mediation of self-control in the use of harmful smartphones by teenagers.