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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1333869

Perceived Stress of COVID-19 Pandemic and Problematic Mobile Phone Use During Quarantine Conditions Among Chinese Adolescents: A Mediated Moderation Model

Shuyang Jiang1 Lifan Zhang2*
  • 1Suzhou University of Science and Technology, China
  • 2Yunnan Minzu University, China

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The relation between perceived general stress and problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has been well established. With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the present study was designed to examine the associations between perceived stress of COVID-19 as a kind of event-related stress and PMPU, and the mechanisms underlying this relation. Participants were 724 adolescents ranging from 12 to 16 years old (M = 13.28, SD = 1.05) who completed four online questionnaires addressing perceived stress of COVID-19, search for meaning in life, escapism motivation, and PMPU. The results revealed that escapism motivation mediated the relationship between perceived stress of COVID-19 and PMPU. In addition, search for meaning in life played a moderating role between perceived stress of COVID-19 and escapism motivation. These findings extend the literature by addressing how and under what conditions perceived stress of COVID-19 can contribute to PMPU. We discussed the implications for developing targeted intervention programs aimed at reducing PMPU among adolescents.

Keywords: Adoles cents, escapism motivation, Problematic mobile phone use, search for meaning, perceived strerss

Received: 08 Nov 2023; Accepted: 09 Jan 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Jiang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Dr. Lifan Zhang, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming, 650031, Yunnan Province, China