RT Journal Article
T1 Psychological distress, rumination and problematic smartphone use among Spanish adolescents: An emotional intelligence-based conditional process analysis.
A1 Arrivillaga, Christiane
A1 Rey-Peña, Lourdes
A1 Extremera-Pacheco, Natalio
K1 Adolescentes - Psicología
K1 Madurez afectiva
K1 Emociones
K1 Redes sociales en internet - Aspectos psicológicos
AB Background: Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is a public health issue that is currently rising among adolescents.The Compensatory Internet Use Theory (CIUT) poses that difficulties in handling negative life circumstancescould result in PSU. Furthermore, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) modelsuggests that the interaction between core characteristics and affective and cognitive responses could lead toPSU. The present study aimed to clarify the links between psychological distress and PSU by exploring ruminationas a mediator and emotional intelligence (EI) as a moderator.Methods: A sample of 1882 adolescents (54% female, 46% male) completed measures of psychological distress,rumination, EI and PSU. The PROCESS macro was used to conduct a moderated mediation analysis.Results: The mediation results showed a significant indirect effect from psychological distress to PSU throughrumination. Furthermore, EI was a significant moderator of this effect. Thus, in adolescents with higher EI, theeffect of psychological distress on PSU through rumination was not significant.Limitations: Cross-sectional data do not imply causality and further studies should use longitudinal designs. Selfreportquestionnaires may be susceptible to social desirability bias and future studies including other sources ofinformation may help to minimize such bias.Conclusions: This study contributes to the field of problematic digital technology usage, showing that the linkbetween psychological distress and PSU depends on the EI levels, which might influence PSU indirectly throughrumination. Furthermore, empirical evidence for the CIUT and I-PACE models was provided. Lastly, interventionsaiming at training EI may aid in the prevention of PSU.
PB Elsevier
YR 2022
FD 2022-01-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/37068
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/37068
LA eng
NO https://openpolicyfinder.jisc.ac.uk/id/publication/13768
NO University of Málaga (PPIT.UMA.A2.2019), the PAIDI group CTS-1048 (Junta de Andalucía) and theMinistry for Science and Innovation in Spain (PID2020-117006RB-I00).
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 20 ene 2026