Psychological Distress and Problematic Mobile Phone Use Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Cognitions and the Moderating Role of Effortful Control

Abstract

Previous studies have documented that psychological distress is related to problematic mobile phone use (PMPU), and sporadic research has investigated the potential mechanisms underlying the association. Based on the cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use (PIU), the self-control theory, and the problem-behavior theory, this study aimed to examine the mediating role of maladaptive cognitions toward mobile phones and the moderating role of effortful control between psychological distress and PMPU. Data were collected from 1,799 secondary school students (45.1% male; M age = 14.07, SD = 1.69) using four self-reported questionnaires. The results revealed that maladaptive cognitions toward mobile phones partially mediated the relationship between psychological distress and PMPU. In addition, effortful control as a protective factor attenuated the indirect effect from psychological distress to PMPU. These findings advanced the understanding of the etiology of PMPU and the need to develop effective strategies for prevention, suggesting that schools and families should pay additional attention to students with psychological distress. Targeted interventions for integrating online and offline worlds and effortful control training programs may help to prevent adolescents from engaging in PMPU.

Social Media Exposure and College Students' Mental Health During the Outbreak of COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Rumination and the Moderating Role of Mindfulness

“…Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, 36 which has been used to evaluate mental health status 37 has been validated in the Chinese context. 38,39 This scale contained 10 items and used a 5-point Likert scale. The scale showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.94).…”

Autonomy Need Dissatisfaction in Daily Life and Problematic Mobile Phone Use: The Mediating Roles of Boredom Proneness and Mobile Phone Gaming

“…Participants’ severity of PMPU was assessed in T3 by the short version of the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale [ 51 ], which has been validated in the Chinese context and showed good validity and reliability [ 17 , 52 ]. This scale contains 10 items (e.g., I find it difficult to switch off my mobile phone) with five aspects, including craving, withdrawal, peer dependence, loss of control, and negative life consequences.…”

Preference for Solitude and Mobile Phone Addiction Among Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Distress and Moderating Role of Mindfulness

“…Psychological distress refers to general emotional disturbance related to depression, stress, anxiety as well as other emotional adaptation problems, which reflects the individual's mental health status (Wong et al, 2014;Bore et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2019). A growing body of research has revealed that college students experience higher levels of psychological distress compared to the general population, leading to a range of negative consequences (Bore et al, 2016).…”

“…For example, a systematic review of longitudinal research indicated that psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression, was found to be predictive of problematic internet use (Anderson et al, 2016). As the most convenient, accessible and multi-functional carrier of mobile Internet technology, mobile phone has become a desirable tool for people to relieve stress and vent negative emotions Yang X. F. et al, 2020), which might lead to mobile phone addiction in the long run (Liu et al, 2019). Consistent with this perspective, numerous empirical research has found that psychological distress is not only positively correlated with mobile phone addiction (Cho et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2019;Yang X. F. et al, 2020) but also a risk factor for the development of mobile phone addiction (Kim et al, 2015;Matar Boumosleh and Jaalouk, 2017).…”

“…As the most convenient, accessible and multi-functional carrier of mobile Internet technology, mobile phone has become a desirable tool for people to relieve stress and vent negative emotions Yang X. F. et al, 2020), which might lead to mobile phone addiction in the long run (Liu et al, 2019). Consistent with this perspective, numerous empirical research has found that psychological distress is not only positively correlated with mobile phone addiction (Cho et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2019;Yang X. F. et al, 2020) but also a risk factor for the development of mobile phone addiction (Kim et al, 2015;Matar Boumosleh and Jaalouk, 2017). For instance, Liu et al (2019) showed that psychological distress could positively predict mobile phone addiction.…”