The Relationship Between Smartphone Addiction and the Interpersonal Competence of Chinese Private College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

Yunjing Su; Zhonglian Yan; Wenqi Lin; Xuelin Liu

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S445364

The Relationship Between Smartphone Addiction and the Interpersonal Competence of Chinese Private College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Feb 21:17:653-664. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S445364. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yunjing Su^{1

2}, Zhonglian Yan¹, Wenqi Lin¹, Xuelin Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
² School of Child Welfare, Changchun Humanities and Sciences College, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: As an aspect of the lives of private college students in China, interpersonal competence (IC) is important to their socialization and employment competence. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Chinese private college students' smartphone addiction (SPA) and IC, the mediating effect of negative emotions (NE), and the moderating effect of psychological resilience (PR).

Samples and methods: Using simple random sampling, 5473 Chinese private college students (male 74.5%, urban household registration 51.6%, served as a student leader 31.5%) were recruited.

Results: The results showed that (1) SPA positively predicted IC; (2) NE partially mediated the relationship between SPA and IC; and (3) PR moderated the relationships between SPA and NE, NE and IC, SPA and IC.

Conclusion: These findings provide a new perspective to improve Chinese private college students' socialization and their employment competitiveness.

Keywords: Chinese private college students; interpersonal competence; negative emotions; psychological resilience; smartphone addiction.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Jilin Educational scientific 14th five-Year plan (GH23315) and Jilin Higher Education Institute (JGJX2020C98).