Hedonic use, stress, and life satisfaction as predictors of smartphone addiction

This study examined the relationship between hedonic smartphone use (entertainment, social media, games), perceived life stress, and satisfaction with life with smartphone addiction (SA). We tested the connections using structural equation modeling (SEM) on questionnaire data obtained from 410 participants (73.2% women). Results indicated a good overall fit of the model (χ(2)(36) = 58.06, p = .011; CFI = 0.970, TLI = 0.954, RMSEA[90% CI] = 0.039 [0.019, 0.056], SRMR = 0.037). Perceived stress and hedonic use were positive predictors of SA (β = 0.264, p = .001 and β = 0.176, p = .002, respectively). Satisfaction with life did not directly predict SA, but an indirect effect, via perceived stress, was statistically significant (β = −0.146, p = .001). Women showed greater SA than men, but the effect of age was not significant. Perceived stress was negatively predicted by satisfaction with life, and positively by hedonic use. Based on the compensatory internet use theory, hedonic or non-utilitarian smartphone use might be associated with SA. The study concludes that being female, hedonic smartphone use, and perceived life stress predict SA

Psychological features of students' experience of limited access to social networks

Introduction. Social networks are a tool for finding social contacts, emotional support, a means of self-expression and self-presentation. In the period of so called "crisis of credibility", expressed in a large amount of unverified and often contradictory information, it is very important to study the psychological characteristics of students' experience of limited access to social networks such as Instagram* (a Meta Platforms Inc. project, which is banned in Russia). The study of informational behavior in recent years has acquired particular relevance, which has been realized in a large number of both foreign and russian works. For the first time, an attempt was made to describe the differences in the characteristics of students' experience of limited access to social networks, depending on the actions of respondents after the restriction of access. Methods. The study involved 174 students aged 18 to 21 years (61 boys and 113 girls), students of 1–3 courses of the Don State Technical University. To achieve the goal of the study, the author's questionnaire was used (I. V. Abakumova, N. E. Komerova, S. V. Ryagin); test of Personal Adjustment (K. Rogers, adapted by A. K. Osnitsky); questionnaire "Strategic approach to coping scale" (SACS) (S. Hobfall, adapted by N. E. Vodopyanova, E. S. Starchenkova). Mathematical methods were the statistical Mann-Whitney U-test; Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results. Coping strategies and features of socio-psychological adaptation to stressful situations change depending on the actions of respondents after restricting access to the social network Instagram* (continuation of use using VPN applications, termination of use after a ban). Respondents who stopped using the Instagram* social network showed a higher level of avoidance and impulsive actions, less severity of internal control, adaptability, and emotional discomfort than respondents who continued to use this social network. Discussion. Studies of informational behavior by both domestic and foreign authors emphasize the importance of the virtual space of social networks as a way of self-presentation, communication, getting support, self-expression, etc., which is consistent with our results that limiting access to the popular resource among young people (Instagram*) can be perceived as a frustrating event, the loss of a "part" of life, which activates certain coping strategies and mechanisms of socio-psychological adaptation

It\u27s Not the Same As It Was: Analysis of Modern Coping in the Age of Virtual Media

Among young adults, stress triggers social media use, especially as a coping strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wolfers & Utz, 2022). Similarly, video games offer a way for players to engage in escapism to cope with stressors (Prinsen & Schofield, 2021). Increased use of virtual media continues despite social distancing orders being largely lifted; while the risks and potential negative impact of social media on mental health remain uncertain (Orben & Przybylski, 2019). The current study examined the use of virtual media and virtual gaming as coping mechanisms among traditional-age undergraduate students. Undergraduate participants (N=310) attending a large metropolitan university in the southeast completed a comprehensive online questionnaire that included perceptions of their mental health and the use of coping strategies during the pandemic. Overall, participants reported higher instances of stress throughout the duration of the pandemic and lower perceptions of their mental health. Participants reported much higher usage of social media in their everyday lives since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Further, participants overwhelmingly identified social media usage as a coping strategy. In fact, social media usage was the most prevalent coping strategy amongst undergraduate participants, and tendencies toward escapism and persona creation in response to stress were unveiled through participant responses. Far less reported use of virtual gaming as a copying strategy even when controlling for gender. Despite the negative effects of social media usage reported throughout psychological literature, current undergraduate students see it as an aid for their stressors rather than a source of stress

Conditionally Helpful? The influence of Person-, Situation-, and Device-Specific Factors on Maternal Smartphone Use for Stress Coping and on Coping Effectiveness

Smartphones are omnipresent in the daily lives of parents and provide access to multiple resources in stressful situations. Thus, smartphones might be valuable coping tools. Previous research has mostly focused on the negative effects of parental phone use. In the present study, we investigated how mothers use smartphones for coping with stress and whether their phone use for coping is effective. We also explored factors on different levels (situation, person, device) which could influence phone use and coping effectiveness. Building on a one-week experience sampling study with over 200 mothers and multilevel models, we found that in stressful situations while being with children, mothers used their smartphones mostly for emotion-focused coping such as self-distraction and taking a break. Problem-focused coping was less prevalent. Mothers reporting increased cognitive phone salience used it more for coping with stress. Phone use for coping compared to no use related to lower stress decrease. No person-, situation-, or device-specific factors moderated the effects of phone use on coping effectiveness. Using positive phone content, however, was associated with increased perceived coping efficacy. Our results suggest that phone use is not generally successful for coping, but that momentary device-specific factors such as content characteristics might determine whether phones can be used for coping in an effective way

Unraveling the Effects of Mobile Application Usage on Users’ Health Status: Insights from Conservation of Resources Theory

Numerous studies have documented adverse consequences arising from increased technology usage and advocated for a reduction in such usage as a plausible remedy. However, such recommendations are often infeasible and oversimplistic given mounting evidence attesting to users’ growing reliance on technology in both their personal and professional lives. Building on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we construct a research model to explain how mobile application usage, as delineated by its breadth and depth, affects users’ nomophobia and sleep deprivation, which can have negative impacts on users’ health status. We also consider the moderating influence of physical activity in mitigating the effects of mobile application usage on users’ health. We validated our hypotheses via data collected by surveying 5,842 respondents. Empirical findings reveal that (1) nomophobia is positively influenced by mobile application usage breadth but negatively influenced by mobile application usage depth, (2) sleep deprivation is negatively influenced by mobile application usage breadth but positively influenced by mobile application usage depth, and (3) sleep deprivation and nomophobia negatively impact users’ health status, whereas (4) physical activity attenuates the impact of mobile application usage on sleep deprivation but not nomophobia. The findings from this study not only enrich the extant literature on the health outcomes of mobile application usage by unveiling the impact of mobile application usage patterns and physical activity on users’ health but they also inform practitioners on how calibrating usage breadth and depth, along with encouraging physical activity, can promote healthy habits among users

Ansiedad, estrés y nomofobia en estudiantes de educación técnico - productiva de Lima - 2021

Objetivo: determinar la relación entre la ansiedad, el estrés y la nomofobia en estudiantes de educación técnico-productiva de Lima-2021. Tipo básica, diseño no experimental, de corte transverso, nivel de diseño de investigación descriptivo correlacional, muestreo probabilístico-estratificado. La población 871 estudiantes y la muestra 267. Instrumentos: Inventario de ansiedad rasgo-estado (IDARE), escala de percepción global del estrés (EPGE-1) y cuestionario de nomofobia (NMP-Q). Resultados: nivel sin ansiedad en la dimensión estado y rasgo, nivel alto en eustrés y distrés y nivel leve en nomofobia; se rechazó la hipótesis de la relación significativa entre la ansiedad, el estrés y la nomofobia; se rechazó las hipótesis específicas de la relación significativa de la ansiedad con las dimensiones del estrés, del estrés con las dimensiones de la nomofobia y de la nomofobia con las dimensiones de la ansiedad. Se concluyó, una correlación negativa y positiva muy baja, no significativa entre la ansiedad, el estrés y la nomofobia en estudiantes de educación técnico-productiva de Lima-2021