Effects of Cell Phone Dependence on Mental Health Among College Students During the Pandemic of COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Survey of a Medical University in Shanghai

Smartphone Addiction Among University Students' During the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Future Anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related psychological symptoms can lead to smartphone addiction (SPA) risk and other behavioral disorders, thus impacting individuals' mental health and well-being. The present study aims to propose a mediation model to investigate the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and SPA, and the mediating role of future anxiety (FA) during the post-COVID-19 era.

METHODS

An online questionnaire including the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Dark Future Scale, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale among university students from China, was conducted between September 14 and November 22, 2022. Finally, 1,154 valid questionnaires were collected. The reliability and confirmatory factor analysis results showed that all three scales had good reliability and validity.

RESULTS

Structural Equation Model demonstrated that EI significantly and negatively influenced SPA (β=0.211, p<0.001), university students' FA significantly and positively effected SPA (β=0.315, p<0.001), EI significantly predicted SPA in university students, and FA partially mediated the association between EI and SPA. The mediation effect of FA was 0.110, which accounted for 34.27% of the total effect. Bootstrap results furthermore tested the rigor of the mediating effect.

CONCLUSION

These findings broaden our understanding regarding the relationship between EI and SPA and the mediating role of FA, providing new sights for educators on how to reduce the risk of SPA when confronting the ongoing and possible future pandemics.

Smartphone addiction risk, technology-related behaviors and attitudes, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic-related perceived risk of infection, illness fears, acute stress, emotional anxiety, exhaustion, and fatigue, psychological trauma and depressive symptoms, and sustained psychological distress can cause smartphone addiction risk and lead to technology-related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders, thus impacting psychological well-being. Behavioral addiction of smartphone users can result in anxiety symptom severity, psychiatric symptoms, and depressive stress. We carried out a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest throughout June 2022, with search terms including “smartphone addiction + COVID-19” + “stress,” “anxiety,” “depression,” “psychological distress,” “screen time,” and “fear.” As we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022, 288 papers met the eligibility criteria. By excluding sources with similar titles, having unclear findings or unsupported by replication, or displaying inconsistent content, we selected 64, mainly empirical, sources. We used layout algorithms (VOSviewer) and bibliometric mapping (Dimensions) as data visualization tools. Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), a systematic review and literature review software (Distiller SR), Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), and Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR) were employed as methodological quality assessment tools. As limitations, we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022 in scholarly outlets indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases. The scope of our study also does not advance the inspection of sources covering vulnerable individuals suffering from certain diseases or specific generations. Subsequent analyses should develop on smartphone use and addiction among children and adolescents. Future research should thus investigate problematic smartphone use and addiction across generations Z and Alpha. Attention should be directed to their personality traits and psychopathological symptoms.