Comparing generalized and specific problematic smartphone/internet use: Longitudinal relationships between smartphone application-based addiction and social media addiction and psychological distress

• Published in: Journal of behavioral addictions 2020-06, Vol.9 (2), p.410-419
• Main Authors: Chen, I-Hua, Pakpour, Amir H, Leung, Hildie, Potenza, Marc N, Su, Jian-An, Lin, Chung-Ying, Griffiths, Mark D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anxiety - epidemiology; Behaviorism; Depression - epidemiology; Depression, Mental; Female; Full-length Report; Hong Kong - epidemiology; Humans; Internet; Internet Addiction Disorder - epidemiology; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Psychological Distress; Smart phones; Smartphone; Social Media; Social networks; Stress (Psychology); Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Universities; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2062-5871; 2063-5303; 2063-5303
• DOI: 10.1556/2006.2020.00023

The literature has proposed two types of problematic smartphone/internet use: generalized problematic use and specific problematic use. However, longitudinal findings on the associations between the two types of problematic use and psychological distress are lacking among East-Asians. The present study examined temporal associations between both generalized and specific problematic use of the smartphone/internet, and psychological distress. Methods. Hong Kong University students (N = 308; 100 males; mean age = 23.75 years; SD ± 5.15) were recruited with follow-ups at three, six, and nine months after baseline assessment. All participants completed the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (for generalized problematic smartphone/internet use), the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (for specific problematic smartphone/internet use), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (for psychological distress) in each assessment. Latent growth modeling (LGM) was constructed to understand temporal associations between generalized/specific problematic use and psychological distress. Results. The LGM suggested that the intercept of generalized problematic use was significantly associated with the intercept of psychological distress (standardized coefficient [β] = 0.32; P < 0.01). The growth of generalized problematic use was significantly associated with the growth of psychological distress (β = 0.51; P < 0.01). Moreover, the intercept of specific problematic use was significantly associated with the intercept of psychological distress (β = 0.28; P < 0.01) and the growth of psychological distress (β = 0.37; P < 0.01). Conclusion. The initial level of problematic use of smartphone/internet increased the psychological distress among university students. Helping young adults address problematic use of the smartphone/internet may prevent psychological distress.