Jin-Liang Wang, Detlef H.

Rost, Ren-Jie Qiao, Rebecca Monk,

Academic stress and smartphone dependence among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation
model,
Children and Youth Services Review,
Volume 118,
2020,
105029,
ISSN 0190-7409,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105029.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920301754)
Abstract: The problem of smartphone dependence among adolescents has become increasingly
prominent. This study explored the relationship between academic stress and teenagers’
smartphone dependence, and whether psychological distress (general anxiety and depression)
mediate this association. Further, we investigated the potential moderating role of academic
resilience on the relationship between academic stress and psychological distress. A total of
N = 520 students participated in this cross-sectional study. The Academic Stress Scale, the
Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30), the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Mobile Phone
Addiction Index (MPAI) were used to measure students’ academic stress, academic resilience,
psychological distress, and smartphone dependence, respectively. Linear regression analysis
was used to investigate the relationship among the variables. The results showed that
academic stress was positively related to psychological distress, which may further lead to
severe smartphone dependence. Psychological distress partially mediated the relationship
between academic stress and smartphone dependence. The mediating effect of psychological
distress between academic stress and smartphone dependence was moderated by academic
resilience. Specifically, academic resilience weakened the indirect relationship between
academic stress and smartphone dependence that was mediated by psychological distress. Our
findings indicated that academic stress was a risk factor for smartphone dependence, and
adolescents may use smartphone excessively as way to release tension when facing academic
stress. Academic resilience may weaken the negative effect of academic resilience on
psychological distress by moderating the association between stress and psychological
distress, which in turn reduces the likelihood of smartphone dependence.