Non-suicidal self-injury in Chinese adolescents with problematic smartphone use: A one-year longitudinal study

Shuang Lin, Yongjian Li, Jing Sheng, Lijun Chen, Yuzhi Zhang and Jun Chen

Children and Youth Services Review, 2025, vol. 169, issue C

Abstract: Although existing studies indicated associations between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors, its relationship with anxiety and depression, as well as rumination remains unclear. The current study used a three-wave longitudinal design to investigate anxiety and depression as potential mediators and rumination as a prospective moderator in the relationship between PSU and NSSI among Chinese adolescents. The sample comprised 1368 adolescents (60 % male; Mage = 15.05 years, SD = 0.85 at baseline), who completed self-report assessments of PSU, NSSI, anxiety and depression, and rumination across three distinct timepoints (T1, T2, and T3), with six-month intervals between waves. Results from the longitudinal moderated mediation model demonstrated that PSU is associated with NSSI through exacerbating anxiety and depression over time. Furthermore, rumination strengthened the longitudinal associations between PSU, anxiety and depression, and NSSI; specifically, a stronger correlation between PSU and NSSI via anxiety and depression for adolescents with high rumination than those with low rumination. These findings suggest that fostering adaptive emotion-regulating strategies and positive coping mechanisms could be key in preventing NSSI among individuals with problematic smartphone use.

Keywords: Problematic smartphone use; Nonsuicidal self-injury; Anxiety; Depression; Rumination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074092400673X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:169:y:2025:i:c:s019074092400673x

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108101

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().