Mobile phone dependency and subclinical depressive-anxiety symptom co-occurrence in college students: a cross-lagged panel network analysis

作者：Zhao Ze, Xiaobin Ding, Chen Chen, Jie Wang, Na He, Jiajia Xu, Jing Li, Lili Liu · 发表于：BMC Public Health · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12889-025-24142-9 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Impact of Technology on Adolescents、Digital Mental Health Interventions、Mental Health Research Topics

BACKGROUND: With the widespread use of smartphones among college students, issues related to smartphone dependence have become increasingly prevalent. Existing research has shown that subclinical anxiety and depression often co-occur and are closely associated with smartphone dependence. This study employed a cross-lagged panel network approach to explore the dynamic interplay between smartphone dependence and the co-occurrence of subclinical anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students. METHODS: The Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used as measurement tools. Two waves of longitudinal data were collected from 571 college students (26.3% male; mean age = 19.53 years, SD = 1.12) between March 2024 and September 2024. RESULTS: The results revealed that anxiety symptoms significantly predicted smartphone dependence. The node Uncontrollable worry (A2) exerted the strongest influence on other symptoms, whereas Delayed work (MPAI-16) was more frequently predicted by other symptoms. The three strongest cross-lagged paths in the network were from Spend too much time (MPAI-2) to Complained by others (MPAI-1), from Uncontrollable worry (A2) to Delayed work (MPAI-16), and from Uncontrollable worry (A2) to Anxiety if not used for some time (MPAI-10), all of which played a key role in maintaining the overall network structure. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, interventions targeting sm...