Abstract
In order to clarify the onset mechanism of problematic mobile phone use, and to develop better strategies to prevent and treat problematic mobile phone use, the current study tested the negative impact of parental rejection on problematic mobile phone use and the mediating roles of perceived discrimination and school engagement in this association. The sample consisted of 356 Chinese university students (36.3% male) ranging from 17 to 19 years of age. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing parental rejection, perceived discrimination, school engagement, and problematic mobile phone use. The results documented that parental rejection was a direct risk factor for problematic mobile phone use. This association was mediated by perceived discrimination, and there was also a sequential mediating effect in which perceived discrimination led in turn to low school engagement.
Highlights
The use of mobile phones has dramatically increased over the last decades across the world
Parental rejection was positively associated with perceived discrimination (r = 36, p < 0.01) as well as problematic mobile phone use (r = 0.21, p < 0.01), and was negatively associated with school engagement (r = −0.18, p < 0.01)
Perceived discrimination was positively associated with problematic mobile phone use (r = 0.28, p < 0.01) and was negatively associated with school engagement (r = −0.32, p < 0.01)
Summary
The use of mobile phones has dramatically increased over the last decades across the world. 90% in the United States and 93% in the United Kingdom own a mobile phone (PewResearch, 2014; OFCOM, 2016). In China, as of January 2018, about 1.4 billion mobile phone subscriptions had been registered (Statista, 2018), with young adults (aged 18– 22 years) being one of the largest and fastest-growing populations of mobile phone users (Chen et al, 2016). Problematic mobile phone use in its extreme form is considered a form of behavioral addiction including the core components of addictive behaviors, such as cognitive salience, loss of control, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse (Billieux et al, 2015). It is important to pay more attention to problematic mobile phone use and its influences and effects
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