Determinants and effects of mobile phone addiction and phubbing: a study in 17 countries

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Measurement invariance of the phubbing scale across 20 countries

Mobile phone addiction is a robust phenomenon observed throughout the world. The social aspect of mobile phone use is crucial; therefore, phubbing is a part of the mobile phone addiction phenomenon. Phubbing is defined as ignoring an interlocutor by glancing at one's mobile phone during a face-to-face conversation. The main aim of this study was to investigate how the Phubbing Scale (containing 10 items) might vary across countries, and between genders. Data were collected in 20 countries: Belarus, Brazil, China, Croatia, Ecuador, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA. The mean age across the sample (N = 7696, 65.8% women, 34.2% men) was 25.32 years (SD = 9.50). The cross-cultural invariance of the scale was investigated using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA) as well as the invariance analyses. Additionally, data from each country were assessed individually via confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). We obtained two factors, based on only eight of the items: (a) communication disturbances and (b) phone obsession. The 8 items Phubbing Scale

Country indicators moderating the relationship between phubbing and psychological distress: A study in 20 countries

© 2021 The Authors. Published by Frontiers Media. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588174Problematic mobile phone use can be related to negative mental states. Some studies indicate that behavioural dependency is related to variables associated with the country of origin. The aim of our study was to investigate if country indicators moderated the relationship between phubbing and psychological distress. Our sample consisted of 7,315 individuals from 20 countries, who completed the Phubbing Scale and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The analyses also included country indicators: the Gender Gap Index (GGI), the Human Development Index (HDI), the Social Progress Index (SPI), Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, and the World Happiness Index (WHI). Our results showed that psychological distress was related to at least one dimension of phubbing (i.e., to communication disturbance or phone obsession) in all countries, which means this relationship is culturally universal. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of testing measurement invariance to determine what type of analysis and what type of conclusion are valid in a given study or comparison. Moreover, the increasing or decreasing correlation between phubbing and distress is related to some culture-level indices.This study was financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. NCN UMO-2017/26/M/HS6/00779. In Brazil, the data collection was partly funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) under the grant number 424802/2016-3.Published onlin

Lonely online: a social model of digital media addiction: a study in 21 countries

Digital media addiction limits face-to-face communication, which can have negative effects on the subjective wellbeing of individuals. However, the effect of digital media addiction on subjective wellbeing has not been adequately explored, and it is recommended in the literature that the role of mediating variables related to social life should be investigated. These include loneliness and satisfaction with relationships. The current study investigated whether loneliness and satisfaction with relationships explained the link between people’s digital media addiction and their sense of flourishing. A sample of 6,434 respondents from 21 countries (Mage = 25.92 years, SD = 9.78; 65.5% women) took part in a cross-sectional survey study. The study included a comprehensive evaluation of digital media addiction using several measures. The following scales were applied: the Internet Addiction Scale, the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, the Phubbing Scale, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Relationship Assessment Scale, and the Flourishing Scale. A two-level path analysis showed that loneliness and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships fully mediated the link between digital media addiction and flourishing on the individual level. This suggests that digital media addiction may affect flourishing only through its impact on loneliness and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships.</p