A bidirectional association between smartphone addiction and depression among college students: A cross-lagged panel model

Abstract

Background: Smartphone addiction (SA) is associated with adverse consequences, especially for freshmen. Evidence indicates that SA is associated with depression, and it is necessary to conduct a longitudinal study to explore the association further.

Methods: SA (measured by the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version) and depression (measured by the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale) among 1,186 freshmen were surveyed at baseline and a respective 12-month follow-up for each participant. The application of a cross-lagged panel model approach (CLPM) revealed an association between SA and depression after adjusting for demographic variables.

Results: The CLPM results showed a significant path from baseline SA to follow-up depression (β = 0.08, P < 0.001) and a significant path from baseline depression to follow-up SA (β = 0.08, P < 0.001). Compared with the overall cross-lagged model, the cross-lagged coefficient of the path from baseline SA to follow-up depression increased in the female group (β = 0.10, P = 0.015), and the cross-lagged coefficient of the path from baseline depression to follow-up SA also increased significantly (β = 0.15, P < 0.001). In contrast, the cross-lagged model in the male group showed no predictive effect between SA and depression (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: The current study showed a significant bidirectional association between smartphone addiction and depression among freshmen, but only in the female population.

Keywords: college students; cross-lagged panel model (CLPM); depression; longitudinal study; smartphone addiction.

Figure 1

CLPM of SAS-SV and SDS scores at baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2, over 12 months) with standardized path coefficients. **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; T1 = assessed at baseline, T2 = assessed at follow-up. SAS-SV, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version; SDS, Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale; Single-headed arrows denote regressions, double-headed arrows denote correlations.

Figure 2

Path diagram of the CLPM by gender. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; T1, assessed at baseline; T2, assessed at follow-up. SAS-SV, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version; SDS, Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale; Single-headed arrows denote regressions, double-headed arrows denote correlations; Solid lines present statistically significant associations and dashed lines present nonsignificant associations.