Longitudinal Associations Among Psychological Issues and Problematic Use of Smartphones: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

Abstract

Abstract. One of the critical limitations of previous research on the association between problematic use of media and psychological factors is that the proposed causality between them is mostly based on cross-sectional data. Responding to this limitation, the present study investigated longitudinal causality associations among loneliness, problematic use of smartphones, face-to-face interaction, smartphone-mediated communication, and need for social assurance with cross-lagged panel models. The results suggest that loneliness leads to problematic use of smartphones, which reduces face-to-face interaction while increasing need for social assurance. However, need for social assurance fueled by excessive smartphone use is usually not gratified, and eventually leads to greater loneliness.