Chen Jun, Guo Yanxia, Huang Ruiyu, Liu Gang, Zhang Baolu
Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 24;16:1608607. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1608607. eCollection 2025.
Mobile phone dependence is recognized as a global public health concern, particularly among medical students. The unmet psychological needs reflected in mobile phone dependence among undergraduate medical students remain unclear. Our study aimed to explore the unmet psychological needs underlying mobile phone dependence among medical undergraduates from the Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) perspective through interviews.
Fifteen undergraduate medical students exhibiting mobile phone dependence were recruited through purposive sampling for in-depth, semi-structured interviews at a medical university in China. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's deductive thematic analysis method.
Our study identified four main themes and nine subthemes. The four main themes are (1) autonomy, which includes low self-regulation, reality pressure evasion, and negative affect; (2) competence, which includes achievement through mobile applications and effects on social performance abilities; and (3) relatedness, which includes social network maintenance and digital medical identity formation, (4) meaning in life, which includes life direction confusion and value confusion. Notably, 46.7% of participants identified relatedness needs as the dominant factor in their mobile phone dependence.
Our study uniquely found that mobile phones serve as tools for medical students to compensate for unmet basic psychological needs, manifested as pressure evasion, achievement-seeking, and professional identity construction, while also revealing meaning in life that extends beyond the BPNT frameworks. Our study recommends that medical schools provide autonomy-supportive environments, create opportunities for skill verification through EPA-based assessments and simulations, and establish mentoring systems with digital platforms for professional development. School psychologists and counselors should implement evidence-based interventions like mindfulness training and group self-regulation programs to foster healthy mobile phone usage.
手机依赖被认为是一个全球公共卫生问题，在医学生中尤为突出。本科医学生手机依赖所反映出的未满足的心理需求仍不明确。我们的研究旨在从基本心理需求理论（BPNT）的角度，通过访谈探索本科医学生手机依赖背后未满足的心理需求。
通过目的抽样在中国一所医科大学招募了15名表现出手机依赖的本科医学生，进行深入的半结构化访谈。使用布劳恩和克拉克的演绎主题分析法对数据进行分析。
我们的研究确定了四个主要主题和九个子主题。四个主要主题分别是：（1）自主性，包括自我调节能力低、逃避现实压力和消极情绪；（2）能力，包括通过移动应用程序取得成就以及对社交表现能力的影响；（3）关联性，包括维护社交网络和形成数字医学身份；（4）生活意义，包括生活方向迷茫和价值困惑。值得注意的是，46.7%的参与者认为关联性需求是他们手机依赖的主要因素。
我们的研究独特地发现，手机成为医学生补偿未满足的基本心理需求的工具，表现为逃避压力、追求成就和构建职业身份，同时也揭示了超越BPNT框架的生活意义。我们的研究建议医学院提供支持自主性的环境，通过基于能力的评估和模拟创造技能验证机会，并建立数字平台的指导系统以促进专业发展。学校心理学家和辅导员应实施基于证据的干预措施，如正念训练和团体自我调节项目，以培养健康的手机使用习惯。
