Smartphone addiction and psychological distress among Vietnamese college students: cyber-victimization as a mediator and academic stress as a moderator

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of cyber-victimization (CV) and the moderating effect of academic stress (AS) in the link between smartphone addiction (SPA) and psychological distress (PD) among a sample of Vietnamese college students. Design/methodology/approach A total of 423 college students participated in this study. Measures of SPA, CV, AS and PD were used for data collection. Using PROCESS macro software (Model 4 and Model 1) and the bootstrapping method, the author performed a mediation analysis and a moderation analysis. Findings Results indicated a significant mediating effect of CV in the link between SPA and PD. Moreover, this relationship was moderated by AS. Originality/value The findings could serve as a guide for future research and mental health professionals.

Psychological wellbeing and avoidance strategies as moderators between excessive social media use and academic performance among Indian college students

“…Individuals who experience high levels of anxiety tend to lose focus on work because they are unable to concentrate (Keles et al, 2020;Li et al, 2015). As anxiety represents a negative affective state, students undergoing stress and anxiety are less likely to perform well (Beranuy et al, 2009;Ho et al, 2023;James et al, 2017;Lin et al, 2023). Thus, based on available empirical evidence and intuitive logic, we offer the following hypothesis:…”