TY - JOUR
T1 - Mitigating the influence of problematic smartphone use
T2 - impact of satisfaction with college mental health services on psychological resilience and depression
AU - Liu, Shaoyu
AU - Song, Di
AU - Yang, Shiyan
AU - Shen, Liling
AU - Liu, Zhizhen
AU - Yu, Rongjun
N1 - This project was supported by Fujian Social Science Fund (FJ2024TWWY007) and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) Commissioned special project (X2024001).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025
PY - 2025/6/11
Y1 - 2025/6/11
N2 - Existing research has well-documented the positive relationship between problematic smartphone use and depression among young people. However, little is known about whether and to what extent this association is explained by psychological functioning, and the role of educational institutions in addressing this issue. In this study, we developed a moderated mediation model to (1) replicate the positive relationship between smartphone usage and depression in a large-scale sample of college students across China; (2) propose and examine the underlying role of psychological resilience in this relationship; and (3) propose and test the role of college mental health work in mitigating this link. A total of 20,614 college students from 32 provinces in China completed a series of scales assessing smartphone usage, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Satisfaction Questionnaire of College Mental Health Education (SQCMHE), depression (PHQ-9), and control variables. A moderated mediation model was constructed and examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that psychological resilience underlies the positive association between smartphone usage and depression. Students’ satisfaction with mental health services mitigates the negative impact of phone usage on psychological resilience and downstream depression.
AB - Existing research has well-documented the positive relationship between problematic smartphone use and depression among young people. However, little is known about whether and to what extent this association is explained by psychological functioning, and the role of educational institutions in addressing this issue. In this study, we developed a moderated mediation model to (1) replicate the positive relationship between smartphone usage and depression in a large-scale sample of college students across China; (2) propose and examine the underlying role of psychological resilience in this relationship; and (3) propose and test the role of college mental health work in mitigating this link. A total of 20,614 college students from 32 provinces in China completed a series of scales assessing smartphone usage, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Satisfaction Questionnaire of College Mental Health Education (SQCMHE), depression (PHQ-9), and control variables. A moderated mediation model was constructed and examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that psychological resilience underlies the positive association between smartphone usage and depression. Students’ satisfaction with mental health services mitigates the negative impact of phone usage on psychological resilience and downstream depression.
KW - Depression
KW - Mental health education
KW - Psychological resilience
KW - Smartphone usage time
KW - Mental health education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105007903773&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12144-025-08001-9
DO - 10.1007/s12144-025-08001-9
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1046-1310
JO - Current Psychology
JF - Current Psychology
ER -
