How and for Whom Is Mobile Phone Addiction Associated with Mind Wandering: The Mediating Role of Fatigue and Moderating Role of Rumination

Frequent absent mindedness and the neural mechanism trapped by mobile phone addiction

INTRODUCTION

With the increased availability and sophistication of digital devices in the last decade, young people have become mainstream mobile phone users. Heavy mobile phone dependence causes affective problems (depression, anxiety) and loss of attention on current activities, leading to more cluttered thoughts. Problematic mobile phone use has been found to increase the occurrence of mind wandering, but the neural mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear.

METHOD

The current study aimed to investigate the neural mechanism between mobile phone use and mind wandering. 459 university students (averaged age, 19.26 years) from datasets (ongoing research project named Gene-Brain-Behavior project, GBB) completed psychological assessments of mobile phone addiction and mind wandering and underwent resting-state functional connectivity (FC) scanning. FC matrix was constructed to further conduct correlation and mediation analyses.

RESULTS

Students with high mobile phone addiction scores were more likely to have high mind wandering scores. Functional connectivity among the default mode, motor, frontoparietal, basal ganglia, limbic, medial frontal, visual association, and cerebellar networks formed the neural basis of mind wandering. Functional connectivity between the frontoparietal and motor networks, between the default mode network and cerebellar network, and within the cerebellar network mediated the relationship between mobile phone addiction and mind wandering.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study confirm that mobile phone addiction is a risk factor for increased mind wandering and reveal that FC in several brain networks underlies this relationship. They contribute to research on behavioral addiction, education, and mental health among young adults.

Clinical nurses' work procrastination and smartphone addiction: a potential profile study

Background

In the medical field, effective time management by clinical nurses is crucial for enhancing the quality of patient care. However, in recent years, with increasing work pressure for clinical nurses, procrastination has become a prevalent issue. Many nurses use smartphones as a way to alleviate stress and manage emotions, but excessive smartphone use could exacerbate procrastination, thereby jeopardizing patient safety and healthcare quality. Therefore, understanding the current state of work procrastination among clinical nurses, its heterogeneity, and exploring the impact of smartphone addiction and demographic factors on different aspects of nurse procrastination hold significant importance for improving patient care quality.

Objective

This study aims to explore the current state of work procrastination among clinical nurses and identify potential profile categories. It further analyzes the impact of mobile phone addiction and demographic factors on work procrastination among clinical nurses.

Methods

Convenience sampling was employed to recruit participants from three tertiary hospitals in central China from October to November 2023. Surveys measuring nurses' work procrastination and smartphone addiction were distributed and collected through online platforms. A total of 1,536 nurses participated in this study. Mplus 8.3 statistical software was used for latent profile analysis of clinical nurses' work procrastination, and SPSS 26.0 software was utilized for chi-square tests, rank-sum tests, and multi-classification logistic regression analyses.

Results

The median total score for clinical nurses' work procrastination was 21.00 (17.00, 28.00), and three subgroups were identified: low procrastination (66.93%), medium-low procrastination (20.66%), and medium-high procrastination (12.41%). Additionally, logistic regression analysis revealed that smartphone addiction and department atmosphere were common influencing factors for medium-low and medium-high work procrastination. Hospitals with stricter management and nurses holding the position of head nurse were more likely to belong to the low work procrastination group. Nurses with higher incomes or those holding intermediate titles were more prone to medium-low work procrastination, while those experiencing career advancement difficulties were more likely to exhibit medium-high work procrastination (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Clinical nurses' work procrastination is generally at a medium-to-low level, with three subgroups identified: low procrastination, medium-low procrastination, and medium-high procrastination. Additionally, clinical nurses in surgical departments or those with intermediate titles exhibit higher levels of procrastination. Factors such as smartphone addiction, higher monthly income, tense departmental atmosphere, and unsuccessful career advancement are more likely to lead to work procrastination. Conversely, nurses in hospitals with strict management or those holding the position of head nurse exhibit lower levels of work procrastination. Therefore, nursing managers should pay close attention to the work procrastination behaviors of clinical nurses, actively monitor predictive factors among different groups, and provide psychological counseling and relevant training based on individual nurse circumstances. Additionally, it is also essential to focus on and improve departmental atmosphere and nurse smartphone addiction to enhance clinical nurses' work efficiency and reduce work procrastination.

The Relationships between Effortful Control, Mind Wandering, and Mobile Phone Addiction Based on Network Analysis

BACKGROUND

The prevailing mobile phone use brought the problem of addiction, which might cause negative consequences. Effortful control and mind wandering were associated with addictive behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the dimension-level relationships between effortful control, mind wandering, and mobile phone addiction.

METHODS

A total of 1684 participants participated this study. The mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering were measured through self-report scales, respectively. Dimension-level network of these psychological variables was estimated and bridge expected influence (BEI) values for each node was calculated.

RESULTS

Dimensions of mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering exhibited distinct and complex links to each other. The node "activation control" exhibited the highest negative BEI value (BEI = -0.32), whereas "spontaneous thinking" showed the highest positive BEI value (BEI = 0.20).

CONCLUSIONS

Different dimensions of effortful control and mind wandering had varied yet significant connections with distinct dimensions of mobile phone addiction, facilitating understanding of the specific pathways underlying the three constructs. The identified dominant bridge nodes can provide potential targets for the intervention of mobile phone addiction.