Effect of Growth Mindset on Mental Health Two Years Later: The Role of Smartphone Use.

Xiaoxiong Lai,Chang Nie,Cai Zhang,Yajun Li,Shunsen Huang,Tao Xin,Yun Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063355

Abstract

The negative association between the growth mindset and mental health problems suggests that prevention and intervention programs to improve mental health by targeting mindset may have potential clinical value. However, research on the longitudinal effect of mindset on adolescent mental health and its underlying mechanisms is lacking. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, we obtained data from a diverse sample of Chinese adolescents (n = 2543). Longitudinal multiple mediation models were constructed to examine the effects of the growth mindset on levels of anxiety and depression two years later. In addition, the mediating effects of smartphone use for entertainment and problematic smartphone use (PSU) were examined. After controlling for various covariates and the autoregressive effects of mental health problems, the growth mindset had significant negative effects on anxiety (β = −0.053, p = 0.004) and depression (β = −0.074, p < 0.001). Smartphone use had a significant mediating role in the effect of mindset on anxiety (β = −0.016, p < 0.001) and depression (β = −0.016, p < 0.001). The growth mindset has long-lasting positive effects on adolescent mental health. Smartphone use for entertainment and PSU mediate the effect of mindset on adolescent mental health.

Highlights

This study focused on the far-reaching effects of growth mindset on adolescent mental health and selected a sample of students who were approaching or just entering adolescence
This study found that the growth mindset was a negative predictor of mental health problems two years later, even after controlling for various covariates and the autoregressive effects of mental health problems
The results of this study suggest that the growth mindset has long-lasting positive effects on mental health

Summary

Introduction

Enhancement of which can effectively improve academic performance, growth mindset has attracted increasing attention from researchers [4–6]. Researchers have looked beyond academic achievement to explore the relationship between mindset and mental health [7,8]. Except for very few intervention studies [9], existing research on the growth mindset and mental health has typically used a cross-sectional design, which makes it difficult to draw valid inferences about the magnitude and direction of associations and to determine the persistence of the mindset effect. There is very little research on the mechanisms of growth mindset effects on mental health, rather than academic achievement; little is known about how the growth mindset affects mental health [7]. The present study used a longitudinal design to examine the

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion