Cell phones and grades: examining mediation by perceived control and anxiety

Abstract

Considerable evidence shows that cell phone use (CPU) is detrimental to students’ academic achievement. However, researchers have yet to consider whether or not perceived academic control (PAC) and anxiety can mediate this effect. In this two-semester study, we examined the role of PAC and learning-related anxiety in affecting the relationship between students’ daily CPU and their final grades in a university course. The study used a series of multiple regressions supplemented by the Hayes’ mediation procedures with a sample of first-year undergraduate students (N = 931) in a research-1 university. The results showed that PAC partially reduced the negative effects of CPU on the grades of the female students while the effects of CPU and PAC were virtually independent for the male students. Anxiety, in turn, did not mediate between CPU and the students’ academic performance for either females or males.