The Relationship between Affiliate Stigma, Social Avoidance and Anxiety, and Smartphone Dependence Among Adult Siblings of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in South Korea

Background and Purpose:

Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) such as intellectual disability or autism often exhibit atypical or challenging behaviors, which can lead to family members experiencing affiliate stigma. This phenomenon is particularly evident among non-disabled siblings, who share a common life trajectory and are consistently exposed to social stigma, resulting in an accumulation of affiliate stigma over time through self-identification with their disabled sibling. Affiliate stigma is linked to various adverse psychological and social outcomes, including social avoidance and anxiety among adult non-disabled siblings. Those experiencing social discomfort and avoidance frequently refrain from addressing distressing emotions through interpersonal means, opting instead to use smartphones as a coping mechanism to manage negative emotions in isolation. Despite the importance of these issues, there is limited research on the relationship between affiliate stigma and social avoidance and anxiety among adult non-disabled siblings. Furthermore, no prior studies have investigated the association between affiliate stigma and smartphone dependence within this population. Given that adulthood is a life stage characterized by active social participation, problematic reliance on smartphones among them could lead to various psychosocial issues. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between affiliate stigma and smartphone dependence in adult non-disabled siblings and to examine the mediating effect of social avoidance and anxiety within this relationship.

Methods:

Participants were collected through convenience sampling from Seoul Support Center for Family with Disability. Between August and October 2020, a total of 200 adult siblings of individuals with DD participated in the survey, and data from 161(67.1% women, mean age = 25 years) of them were analyzed.

The questionnaire included 22 items from the Affiliate Stigma Scale (Chang et al., 2015), 28 items from the Korean version of the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (Lee & Choi, 1997), and 10 items from the Smartphone Over-dependence Integrated Scale (Korea Internet & Security Agency, 2016). The control variables were gender, age, education level, religion, disability type and challenging behaviors of individuals with DD. Using SPSS 24.0 and PROCESS macro 4.2 (model 4), this study investigated the mediation effects of social avoidance and anxiety on the relationship between affiliate stigma and smartphone dependence.

Results:

Adult siblings of individuals with DD showed a higher risk of smartphone over-dependence (26.1%) compared to the general Korean adult population (22.6%).

The direct effect of affiliate stigma on smartphone dependence was significant (B=.163, p<.05) and the mediation effect of social avoidance and anxiety in the relationship between affiliate stigma and smartphone dependence was significant (B= .040, CI [.006, .087]) as well. The study confirmed that social avoidance and anxiety partially mediated the relationship between affiliate stigma and smartphone dependence.

Conclusion and implications:

The study revealed that higher levels of affiliate stigma were associated with increased social avoidance and anxiety, which in turn contributed to greater smartphone dependence. These findings suggest the implementation of disability awareness education programs for siblings of individuals with DD, online and offline group programs, and initiatives that collaborate with religious facilities and welfare facilities for individuals with disabilities.