Does the Effect of Stress on Smartphone Addiction Vary Depending on the Gender and Type of Addiction?

Abstract

Stress is closely associated with smartphone addiction. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of studies investigating the potential variation in the effect of stress on smartphone addiction based on the specific addiction type and gender. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among 596 high school students. The results revealed that the effect size of stress on smartphone addiction varied across different types of addiction. The strongest relationship was observed between stress and social media addiction, followed by the relationship between stress and information acquisition addiction. Furthermore, gender played a significant moderating role in stress and three types of smartphone addiction. Specifically, stress was strongly associated with information acquisition addiction overall, with no significant gender differences observed. In contrast, stress exhibited a strong correlation with social media addiction, which was significantly more prevalent among females. On the other hand, game addiction and short-form video addiction were both strongly associated with stress, but showed significantly higher prevalence among males. This study enhances current research by offering supplementary insights into the correlation between stress and smartphone addiction, as well as exploring the potential implications of intervening in smartphone addiction.

Gaming disorder and depression among chinese left-behind adolescents: Interactions of family, school, and personality factors

“…Two items assess the inability to control cravings, two items gauge anxiety and feeling lost, one item evaluates withdrawal and escape, and one item examines productivity loss. Previous research conducted among Chinese adolescents Tu et al, 2023) has demonstrated that this subscale exhibits high levels of reliability and validity. Cronbach's α for this measure was .86.…”