AUTHOR=Qian Ling , Wang Die , Jiang Min , Wu Wei , Ni Congying 

TITLE=The Impact of Family Functioning on College Students’ Loneliness: Chain-Mediating Effects of Core Self-Evaluation and Problematic Mobile Phone Use

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915697

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915697

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>To examine the influence of family functioning on college students’ loneliness and the mediating effects of core self-evaluation and problematic mobile phone use.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Family Function Scale, Core Self-evaluation Scale, Problem Mobile Phone Use Scale, and Loneliness Scale were used to investigate 8,524 college students.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>(1) Family functioning positively predicted core self-evaluation (β = 0.43, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and negatively predicted loneliness (β = −0.21, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); (2) Core self-evaluation negatively predicted problematic mobile phone use and loneliness (β = −0.34, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001; β = −0.50, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); (3) Problematic mobile phone use significantly positively predicted loneliness (β = 0.05, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); (4) Core self-evaluation and problematic mobile phone use showed a significant chain-mediation effect between family functioning and loneliness (β = −0.01, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The results are helpful to comprehend the producing mechanism of loneliness and provide a theoretical basis for the intervention of loneliness.</p></sec>