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. 2022 Dec 23:13:1019976.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1019976. eCollection 2022.

Effects of media use, smart phone addiction, and adult ADHD symptoms on wellbeing of college students during the COVID-19 lockdown: Dispositional hope as a protective factor

Roxana Andreea Toma  1 , Craig A Anderson  2 , Marius Matichescu  3 , Anca Franţ  4 , Bogdan Almǎjan-Guţă  5 , Adela Cândea  4 , Kira Bailey  6
Affiliations

Effects of media use, smart phone addiction, and adult ADHD symptoms on wellbeing of college students during the COVID-19 lockdown: Dispositional hope as a protective factor

Roxana Andreea Toma et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: The present study investigated the role of dispositional hope as a potential protective factor moderator in the relationship between adult ADHD symptoms, media use/smart phone addiction and wellbeing during the period of isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic among students in Romania.

Methods: A sample of 333 college students (86.8% female and 13.2% male) between the age of 18 and 47 with a mean of 20.6 years old from West University of Timişoara completed online surveys. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed to assess the associations among the variables.

Results: Results confirmed the negative associations of both adult ADHD and smartphone addiction with overall wellbeing. The smartphone addiction/ wellbeing association was moderated by dispositional hopefulness, such that high hopefulness served as a protective factor [b = -0.008, 95% percentile CI (-0.0134; -0.0012)].

Discussion: Implications for the educational environment are discussed.

Keywords: ADHD; college students; hope; smart phone addiction; wellbeing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mediation model of the ADHD effect on wellbeing through smartphone addiction. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Moderated mediation model of the ADHD effect on wellbeing through smartphone addiction, moderated by dispositional hope. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of hope in the association between smartphone addiction and wellbeing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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