ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1665673
New Perspectives on Mobile Phone Addiction Based on Network Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
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Background: Mobile phone addiction represents a widespread concern associated with negative health consequences, influenced by various protective and risk factors. Furthermore, it investigated the influence of fundamental psychosocial factors on mobile phone addiction, with a specific focus on gender-related differences. Methods: The sample comprised 1,684 adults. Participants completed validated self-report instruments, including the Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale (MPATS) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), to assess mobile phone addiction and relevant psychosocial factors. Network analysis techniques were employed to construct two models: a standalone symptom network of mobile phone addiction and an integrated network incorporating addiction symptoms and influencing psychosocial factors. Additionally, gender-stratified analyses were conducted to compare network structures and centrality metrics between male and female groups. Results: Across both genders, the most robust associations within the mobile phone addiction symptom network were confined to items within the same 2 MPATS dimension. The strongest edge common to both networks connected Item 4 ("I would feel bad if I did not use my phone for a long time") and Item 6 ("I would feel lonely without my mobile phone"), both reflecting withdrawal symptoms. The second strongest association linked Item 7 ("I feel more confident when I communicate with others using my phone") and Item 16 ("I feel more comfortable when I communicate with others via cell phone"), which pertain to the social comfort dimension. Regarding central symptoms, Item 15 ("In class/at work, I often take the initiative to focus on my mobile phone, which affects the lesson/work") emerged as the central node among males, whereas Item 6 ("I would feel lonely without my mobile phone") was central among females. Within the integrated network, the strength dimension of psychological resilience served as the central node for both genders. Conclusion: The results demonstrate significant gender disparities within both the isolated mobile phone addiction symptom network and the comprehensive network that includes psychosocial variables. Strong connections were observed particularly within the withdrawal and social comfort domains, accompanied by gender-specific central symptoms—namely, task-interfering phone use among males and feelings of loneliness among females.
Keywords: Mobile phone addiction, Network comparison test, Central Node, Network analysis, Effortful Control
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qiu, Guo, Wang, Li, Li and Zhu. 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: Xia Zhu, zhuxia@fmmu.edu.cn
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