Loneliness and Anxiety Among Chinese Medical Students: The Mediating Role of Mobile Phone Addiction and the Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between loneliness and anxiety, and the mediating role of mobile phone addiction in this relationship, and whether this mediating role was moderated by gender among Chinese medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted on March and April 2021 in Shenyang city of China. In total, 595 medical students were surveyed to complete an online questionnaire including demographic variables, mobile phone usage information, loneliness, mobile phone addiction, and anxiety, and 553 samples were effective for the final analyses. SPSS macro PROCESS was performed to test the mediating effect of mobile phone addiction and the moderating effect of gender. Our findings showed that loneliness was positively associated with anxiety, and mobile phone addiction was a partial mediator in this relationship. In addition, gender was found to moderate the indirect effect of loneliness on anxiety through mobile phone addiction. The effect of mobile phone addiction on anxiety was greater for boys than girls. This study illustrated that students with a higher level of loneliness would be more likely to develop anxiety directly and indirectly. Educational professionals should pay special attention to medical students who felt lonely or addicted to mobile phones, particularly boys.