Unmet Psychological Needs Underlying Mobile Phone Dependence among Medical Undergraduates: A Qualitative Study Based on the Basic Psychological Needs Theory

Jun Chen^1,2Yanxia Guo³Ruiyu Huang⁴Gang Liu^5*Baolu Zhang^2*

• ¹Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
• ²School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China
• ³Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Jiangsu College of Nursing, Huaian, China
• ⁴School of Continuing Education, Guiyang Healthcare Vocational University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China
• ⁵Department of Orthopedics and Center for Orthopedic Diseases Research, Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China

Background: Mobile phone dependence is recognized as a global public health concern, particularly among medical students. The unmet psychological needs reflected in mobile phone dependence among undergraduate medical students remain unclear. Our study aimed to explore the unmet psychological needs underlying mobile phone dependence among medical undergraduates from the Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) perspective through interviews.Methods: Fifteen undergraduate medical students exhibiting mobile phone dependence were recruited through purposive sampling for in-depth, semi-structured interviews at a medical university in China. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's deductive thematic analysis method.Results: Our study identified four main themes and nine subthemes. The four main themes are (1) autonomy, which includes low self-regulation, reality pressure evasion, and negative affect; (2) competence, which includes achievement through mobile applications and effects on social performance abilities; and (3) relatedness, which includes social network maintenance and digital medical identity formation, (4) meaning in life, which includes life direction confusion and value confusion. Notably, 46.7% of participants identified relatedness needs as the dominant factor in their mobile phone dependence.Our study uniquely found that mobile phones serve as tools for medical students to compensate for unmet basic psychological needs, manifested as pressure evasion, achievement-seeking, and professional identity construction, while also revealing meaning in life that extends beyond the BPNT frameworks. Our study recommends that medical schools provide autonomy-supportive environments, create opportunities for skill verification through EPA-based assessments and simulations, and establish mentoring systems with digital platforms for professional development. School psychologists and counselors should implement evidence-based interventions like mindfulness training and group self-regulation programs to foster healthy mobile phone usage.