Influence of social support on the impact of mobile phone dependence on anxiety levels of Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between Mobile Phone Dependence (MPD) of adolescents and their social support-related anxiety levels. Methods: A total of 1006 young students selected from Shaanxi Province were examined for their degree of MPD, using Mobile Phone Dependence Index (MPDI), and to obtain their degree of social support and severity of anxiety levels. Social support and anxiety levels were assessed using Social Support Revalued Scale (SSRS) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), respectively. Results: The adolescent's MPAI score of 34.63 ± 11.53 (p<0.05) was negatively correlated with social support, but positively correlated with anxiety levels (p<0.001). Hierarchy regression analysis showed that utilization of social support played a mediating role in the relationship between anxiety and loss of control, and between anxiety and craving (4.22% and 4.19% of the gross effects, respectively). Conclusion: These results suggest that social support can partially adjust the MPD-induced anxiety levels of adolescents.