Abstract
Mobile devices have become deeply embedded in adolescents’ social worlds. While prior research linked mobile phone use (MPU) and mental health outcomes among adolescents, few studies distinguished between actual-MPU and desired-MPU. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the impact of incongruence between actual-MPU and desired-MPU on psychological distress. A total of 678 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.62 years, SD = 1.61) participated in the study. The cubic Response Surface Analysis (RSA) revealed that adolescents with greater incongruence between actual-MPU and desired-MPU experienced more psychological distress. Even amidst congruence, higher mean levels of actual-MPU and desired-MPU were associated with more distress. Notably, adolescents experienced more distress when the actual-MPU surpassed the desired-MPU than when the desired-MPU was higher than the actual-MPU. The present study conceptualized and distinguished between actual-MPU and desired-MPU. Integrating the actual-MPU and desired-MPU provides a new direction for intervening in psychological distress.
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Liu, J., Liu, RD., Ding, Y. et al. Beyond the Wish: Actual Mobile Phone Use Surpassing Desire Brings More Distress. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01303-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01303-2