Mobile phone addiction and school performance among Chinese adolescents from low-income families: A moderated mediation model

Abstract Mobile phone addiction has gained much attention from researchers recently since its negative effects on adolescents’ school performance. The previous study has found a strong negative correlation between mobile phone addiction and school performance, however, little is known about mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association, particularly among adolescents from low-income families. The present study explored the mediating role of depression and the moderating role of family functioning in the relationships between mobile phone addiction and school performance. A national representative sample of 1794 Chinese adolescents from low-income families was recruited to complete measures of mobile phone addiction, school performance (academic rank and learning burnout), depression, and family functioning. Results indicated that depression partially mediated the association between mobile phone addiction. Besides, low-income family functioning was generally limited though it turned out to partially moderate the depression in related to association between mobile phone addiction and school performance. The present study can extend our understanding of how and when mobile phone addiction give rise to poor school performance among adolescents from low-income families. And it is necessary to strengthen functioning of disadvantaged families by lunching more family-oriented social support policies. Limitations and implications of this study were also discussed.