The association between depression and problematic smartphone behaviors through smartphone use in a clinical sample

Abstract

The increasing adoption rate of smartphones has raised scholars' attentions to the associations between smartphone use, especially problematic smartphone use (PSU), and psychological well-being. Guided by the compensatory internet use theory, this study investigates how the relationship between depression and PSU is mediated through two distinct smartphone use motivations (i.e., process vs. social) and the actual smartphone use. An online survey completed by 317 participants who have been diagnosed with depression revealed that depression was positively associated with PSU. Moreover, depression was positively associated with process motive, which exerted not only a direct, but also an indirect effect on PSU through the actual smartphone use. These results suggest that process motive using smartphone for escapism is detrimental among people with depression for developing PSU. The results also support the necessity of distinguishing motivations from the actual smartphone usage.