Smartphone Addiction and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents: A Narrative Review of Recent Evidence

Introduction: Smartphone addiction is a pattern of excessive, compulsive smartphone use that disrupts daily functioning, social interaction, and emotional regulation. Adolescents, due to neurodevelopmental sensitivity to reward, emerging social identity, and ubiquitous access to mobile technology, are particularly susceptible. Suicidal ideation refers to thoughts of ending one's life, ranging from fleeting passive wishes to active planning, and constitutes a serious public-health concern among youth. While digital media overuse is linked to depression, sleep disturbance, and interpersonal stressors, the specific association between smartphone addiction and suicidal ideation remains inconsistently reported across heterogeneous studies. Clarifying this relationship is critical for informing targeted prevention strategies, integrating digital-health literacy, systematic screening, and focused mental health interventions. Therefore, the present narrative review synthesizes contemporary evidence examining the association between smartphone addiction and suicidal ideation among adolescents. Method: This narrative review synthesized literature published from ۲۰۲۰ to ۲۰۲۵. Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar using MeSH keywords: "Smartphone Addiction," "Suicidal Ideation," "Adolescent," "Mental Health," and "Digital Media.” Inclusion criteria comprised English-language, full- text articles reporting adolescent-specific outcomes; exclusion criteria removed non-English studies, inaccessible full texts, or studies not disaggregating adolescents. Reference lists were hand-searched to identify additional relevant studies. Screening followed a two-stage process: title/abstract review and full- text assessment. Extracted data included study design, sample characteristics, measurement instruments, statistical approach, and reported associations. Thematic synthesis mapped recurring pathways (depression, sleep disruption, cyberbullying) and contextual moderators (social support, gender, culture), with mediators and confounder control noted where available. Results: Ten studies met inclusion criteria. Seven reported clear associations between higher smartphone addiction and increased suicidal ideation, often mediated by depressive symptoms, sleep disruption, and adverse online experiences. Three studies found weak or non- significant links, often in samples with stronger social support or after adjusting for psychopathology. Variation in measurement tools and study design contributed to inconsistent findings, yet overall evidence indicates frequent co-occurrence of problematic smartphone use and suicidal thoughts among adolescents. Conclusion: A recurrent but non-uniform association exists between smartphone addiction and adolescent suicidal ideation. It is suggested to implement routine screening in schools and clinics, promote digital literacy and sleep hygiene programs, provide accessible mental health services, and conduct longitudinal research to clarify causal pathways and inform preventive strategies

کلیدواژه ها:

Internet addiction disorder ، Smartphone addiction ، Suicidal ideation ، Adolescent ، Mental health ، Digital media