Academic Journal
Profiles of Chinese teenagers' problematic mobile phone use and the multilevel relations with alexithymia and social interaction anxiety.
| Τίτλος: | Profiles of Chinese teenagers' problematic mobile phone use and the multilevel relations with alexithymia and social interaction anxiety. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Zhou H; Advanced Research Institute, Jinhua Institute of Technology, 321004, Jinhua, China., Xiao W; School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 321004, Jinhua, China., Li X; School of Education, Zhejiang Normal University, 321004, Jinhua, China. Electronic address: Lixinwei0417@zjnu.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Journal of affective disorders [J Affect Disord] 2026 Jul 15; Vol. 405, pp. 121612. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 13. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7906073 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-2517 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01650327 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Affect Disord Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Affective Symptoms*/psychology , Affective Symptoms*/epidemiology , Anxiety*/psychology , Anxiety*/epidemiology , Adolescent Behavior*/psychology , Social Interaction* , Cell Phone Use* , Cell Phone*, China/epidemiology ; Internet Addiction Disorder/psychology ; Students/psychology ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Female ; Male ; Young Adult |
| Περίληψη: | Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has become a prominent public health concern among Chinese adolescents and emerging adults, yet prior research has largely relied on variable-centered approaches that overlook within-group heterogeneity and provide limited insight into multilevel mechanisms. To address these gaps, this study adopted an integrated analytic framework combining latent profile analysis (LPA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and psychological network analysis. A total of 2345 Chinese university students completed measures of alexithymia (TAS-20), social interaction anxiety (IAS), and PMPU (MPAI). LPA identified three distinct PMPU profiles: Low-risk (62.7%), moderate-risk (24.8%), and high-risk (12.5%). SEM results indicated that alexithymia was positively associated with PMPU in the overall sample, with social interaction anxiety partially mediating this association. Profile-specific analyses further showed that the indirect pathway was significant in the low-risk and moderate-risk profiles but not in the high-risk profile, in which only a direct effect emerged. Network analyses in the low- and moderate-risk groups revealed profile-specific central and bridge nodes, primarily IAS items, highlighting potential symptom targets linking alexithymia and PMPU. Overall, findings underscore meaningful heterogeneity in PMPU and support profile-tailored prevention and intervention strategies emphasizing emotion-processing skills and social anxiety reduction. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Alexithymia; Latent profile analysis; Network analysis; Problematic mobile phone use; Social interaction anxiety |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260315 Date Completed: 20260711 Latest Revision: 20260711 |
| Update Code: | 20260711 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121612 |
| PMID: | 41833612 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-2517 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121612 |