1School of Education Science, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, PR China.
2Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Islamic Republic of Iran.
J Behav Addict. 2020 Jun 26;9(2):410-419. doi: 10.1556/2006.2020.00023. Print 2020 Jun.
The literature has proposed two types of problematic smartphone/internet use: generalized problematic use and specific problematic use. However, longitudinal findings on the associations between the two types of problematic use and psychological distress are lacking among East-Asians. The present study examined temporal associations between both generalized and specific problematic use of the smartphone/internet, and psychological distress.
Hong Kong University students (N = 308; 100 males; mean age = 23.75 years; SD ± 5.15) were recruited with follow-ups at three, six, and nine months after baseline assessment. All participants completed the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (for generalized problematic smartphone/internet use), the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (for specific problematic smartphone/internet use), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (for psychological distress) in each assessment. Latent growth modeling (LGM) was constructed to understand temporal associations between generalized/specific problematic use and psychological distress.
The LGM suggested that the intercept of generalized problematic use was significantly associated with the intercept of psychological distress (standardized coefficient [β] = 0.32; P < 0.01). The growth of generalized problematic use was significantly associated with the growth of psychological distress (β = 0.51; P < 0.01). Moreover, the intercept of specific problematic use was significantly associated with the intercept of psychological distress (β = 0.28; P < 0.01) and the growth of psychological distress (β = 0.37; P < 0.01).
The initial level of problematic use of smartphone/internet increased the psychological distress among university students. Helping young adults address problematic use of the smartphone/internet may prevent psychological distress.
文献提出了两种类型的智能手机/互联网使用问题：广义使用问题和特定使用问题。然而，东亚人群中缺乏关于这两种类型的使用问题与心理困扰之间关联的纵向研究结果。本研究检验了智能手机/互联网的广义和特定使用问题与心理困扰之间的时间关联。
本研究招募了香港大学生（N=308；男性 100 人；平均年龄 23.75 岁；SD ± 5.15），并在基线评估后三个月、六个月和九个月进行了随访。所有参与者在每个评估中都完成了智能手机应用成瘾量表（用于广义的智能手机/互联网使用问题）、卑尔根社交媒体成瘾量表（用于特定的智能手机/互联网使用问题）和医院焦虑抑郁量表（用于心理困扰）。潜增长模型（LGM）用于理解广义/特定使用问题与心理困扰之间的时间关联。
LGM 表明，广义使用问题的截距与心理困扰的截距显著相关（标准化系数[β]=0.32；P<0.01）。广义使用问题的增长与心理困扰的增长显著相关（β=0.51；P<0.01）。此外，特定使用问题的截距与心理困扰的截距（β=0.28；P<0.01）和心理困扰的增长（β=0.37；P<0.01）显著相关。
智能手机/互联网使用问题的初始水平增加了大学生的心理困扰。帮助年轻成年人解决智能手机/互联网使用问题可能有助于预防心理困扰。
