Mediating effect of neuroticism and negative coping style in relation to childhood psychological maltreatment and smartphone addiction among college students in China

Abstract

Background: Smartphones are convenient for college students. However, overuse of smartphone or smartphone addiction, can lead to problems related to healthy development. The cause of smartphone addiction can be traced to adverse childhood experiences such as childhood psychological maltreatment. Therefore, exploring the cause and mechanism underlying smartphone addiction in college students with a history of childhood psychological maltreatment is crucial.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the mediating effect of neuroticism and coping style in relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and smartphone addiction among college students.

Methods: The participants included 1169 (43.8 % female and 56.2 % male) college students ranging in age from 17 to 23 years (M = 19.89, SD = 1.25). All participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring childhood psychological maltreatment, neuroticism, coping style, and smartphone addiction symptoms. A multiple mediation model was used to test the hypotheses.

Results: Findings from mediation analysis showed that both in parallelly and sequentially, neuroticism and negative coping style mediated the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and smartphone addiction.

Conclusions: The present study can provide an understanding of how childhood psychological maltreatment influences college students' smartphone addiction. This study also provides implications on how to reduce the effects of childhood psychological maltreatment on smartphone addiction in college students.

Keywords: Childhood psychological maltreatment; Coping style; Neuroticism; Smartphone addiction.