Citation

Lian S, Bai X, Zhu X, Sun X, Zhou Z. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(23): e15886.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph192315886

PMID

36497958

Abstract

With the increasing prevalence of mobile phone addiction, mobile phone addiction has been considered a prominent risk factor for internalizing or externalizing problems, such as psychological distress and irrational procrastination. However, few studies shed light on the effect of mobile phone addiction on mind wandering and the underlying mechanisms. This study speculated that the direct effect of mobile phone addiction on mind wandering may be linked to fatigue and that the level of an individual's personality characteristics, such as rumination, may influence both the direct and indirect effects of mobile phone addiction on mind wandering. To test these hypotheses, we recruited 1811 college students to complete the self-report questionnaires. The results indicated that mobile phone addiction was positively associated with mind wandering. This direct effect could be mediated by fatigue, and both the direct and indirect effects of mobile phone addiction on mind wandering could be moderated by rumination. Specifically, both the direct and indirect effects were stronger for students with high rumination. These findings enrich our understanding of how, why, and for whom mobile phone addiction is correlated with mind wandering.

Language: en

Keywords

rumination; fatigue; executive control failure hypothesis; mind wandering; mobile phone addiction; resource-control theory of mind-wandering