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. 2021 Jul:118:106857.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106857. Epub 2021 Feb 11.

Loneliness and problematic mobile phone use among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The roles of escape motivation and self-control

Jiayu Li  1 , Danni Zhan  2 , Yuhong Zhou  1 , Xuemei Gao  3
Affiliations

Loneliness and problematic mobile phone use among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The roles of escape motivation and self-control

Jiayu Li et al. Addict Behav. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

In this cross-sectional study, we explored the relationship between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use among Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the effects of escape motivation and self-control. We recruited 1034 adolescents (mean age 15.76 ± 1.20 years) from China. The results showed that loneliness was positively associated with escape motivation and adolescent problematic mobile phone use. Furthermore, when controlling for gender, escape motivation mediated the relationship between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use, and self-control moderated the relationship between escape motivation and problematic mobile phone use. Specifically, as self-control increased, escape motivation was less likely to induce problematic mobile phone use. Thus, loneliness and escape motivation may be factors that increase the risk of problematic mobile phone use, and self-control should be considered in prevention and intervention strategies aimed at attenuating adolescent problematic mobile phone use.

Keywords: Adolescent problematic mobile phone use; COVID-19; Escape motivation; Loneliness; Self-control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual model.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The relationship between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use Notes. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The moderating effect of self-control.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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