The relationship between phubbing and the depression of primary and secondary school teachers: A moderated mediation model of rumination and job burnout

Abstract

Background: With the progress of modern technology and the widespread popularization of mobile phones, many new problems related to mobile phones have aroused people's attention. One of the new phenomena is the phubbing. However, previous studies have paid more attention to the influence of phubbing on the phubbees, few researchers have focused on the influence of phubbing on the phubbers and its influencing mechanism.

Methods: In the present study, convenient sampling method was adopted, and 907 (432 males, 47.6%) primary and secondary school teachers were recruited from Shanxi province in China. The teachers were all assessed by a series of self-assessment scales, including Generic Scale of Phubbing, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, Ruminative Response Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.

Results: The results showed as follows: (1) After controlling for age and gender, phubbing had a significantly positive link to depression of primary and secondary school teachers. Job burnout partially mediated the relation between phubbing and depression. (3) Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the relation between job burnout and depression were moderated by rumination. Job burnout was a stronger predictor of depression in low ruminants than in high ones.

Limitations: First, cross-sectional study design was adopted in this study, but it was difficult to infer the causal relationship between variables. Further investigation and verification should be conducted in combination with experiments and follow-up studies, so as to further reveal the mechanism of action between variables. Second, all the data in this study were from the self-report. Although the common method deviation was not obvious, there may be social desirability effect.

Conclusions: These findings imply that phubbing will not only harm the mental health of the phubbees, but also will affect the mental health of the phubbers. The phubbing enhanced the job burnout of primary and secondary school teachers and increased their risk of depression. Compared with high ruminant, job burnout has a stronger predictive effect on depression in low ruminants. Therefore, we should also pay attention to the mental health problems of phubber teachers in primary and secondary schools.

Keywords: Depression; Job burnout; Phubbing; Rumination; School teachers.