Correlates of problematic smartphone use among Chinese adolescents during COVID-19

Tong Chao, Hao Fong Sit, Chi Ian Chang, Guangzhe Frank Yuan, Chun Chen, Jie Shen, Christian Montag, Jon Elhai and Brian J. Hall

Children and Youth Services Review, 2026, vol. 180, issue C

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents experienced disruptions to their normal routines and faced significant uncertainty that may have increased psychological distress. According to the compensatory internet use theory, smartphone use may alleviate psychological stress, but overreliance on smartphones to cope with stress might lead to smartphone addiction. Hence, we investigated the prevalence of problematic smartphone use (PSU) during COVID-19 among Macao Chinese adolescents, associated correlates, and moderation effects of Fear of Missing Out on relations between psychological distress and PSU severity.

Keywords: Problematic smartphone use; Adolescents; Depression; Anxiety; Stress; Fear of missing out (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:180:y:2026:i:c:s0190740925005377

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108654

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