Protective and risk factors in problematic mobile phone use among adolescents: A three-wave longitude study

Adolescents’ problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has become increasingly severe. This study examined the changes in relationships between dimensions of PMPU, protective (positive psychological capital, i.e., optimism, hope, resilience, core self-evaluation) and risk (psychological distress, i.e., anxiety, depression, loneliness, and stress) factors within the network, aiming to identify the most influential factors over time and find the longitudinal predictive relationships between the factors and PMPU. A total of 1,170 Chinese adolescents participated over three waves (T1: January 2023, T2: August 2023, T3: February 2024). Cross-section network analysis showed that “core self-evaluation”, “depression”, “hope”, “loss of control”, and “stress_P” were the central nodes. “Stress_N” (sense of losing control and negative affective reactions) in risk factors and “affect control” (ability to regulate emotions) in protective factors were the bridge symptoms in the network across three timepoints. As shown in network comparison, the global strength of the network remained stable from T1 to T2 but increased from T2 to T3. The edge strength between “family support”, “anxiety” and the nodes of PMPU weakened across the time. While, correlations between “loneliness”, “goal planning”, “positive thinking”, “affect control” and PMPU nodes strengthened. The relationship between “Stress_N” and PMPU initially increasing before decreasing. Longitudinal cross-lagged network analysis revealed that “negative life consequence” and “craving” in PMPU strongly predicted protective/risk factors, while “hope,” “affect control,” and “core self-evaluation” were most susceptible to prediction. The findings highlight the significant role of “core self-evaluation” and “stress_N” in the development of adolescents’ PMPU and the negative results of PMPU. Additionally, the changes in the network over time suggest that the factors influencing PMPU evolve, with various protective/risk factors gaining or losing significance at different stages. The results of CLPN emphasize the negative outcome of PMPU. Therefore, targeting interventions on the internalized symptoms may help alleviate the severity of PMPU among adolescents.