The Mediating Role of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in the Relationship between Perceived Stress and Problematic Mobile Phone Use among Nursing Students

Research has found that perceived stress is associated with Problematic mobile use. However, the mechanisms underlying that relationship need further investigation. So, the current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of depression and anxiety symptoms in the relationship between perceived stress and problematic mobile phone use.

The research was descriptive – correlational. From the nursing students’ population of Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences in academic year of 2019-2020, a total of 243 students were selected via convenience sampling method and were tested by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Cell-phone Over Use Scale (COUS), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II); and was analyzed using the pearson correlation and path analysis.

The results showed that direct significantly positive effects of perceived stress (β = 0.11, P<0.01), depression symptoms (β = 0.23, P<0.01), and anxiety symptoms (β = 0.17, P<0.01) on problematic mobile phone use. The results also showed a significant role of depression symptoms (β = 0.10, P<0.01) and anxiety symptoms (β = 0.06, P<0.05) in the relationship between perceived stress and problematic mobile phone use.

Based on the findings, it can be concluded that perceived stress through depression and anxiety symptoms has a negative effect on problematic mobile phone use. Therefore, paying attention to interventions and training to manage negative emotions can be a good way to prevent and reduce the Problematic use of mobile phone.