Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37564421›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2023

The role of boredom proneness and self-control in the association between anxiety and smartphone addiction among college students: a multiple mediation model.

Li Zhang, Baokai Wang, Qi Xu, Chang Fu

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
15.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Unfiltered Access, Unseen Harms: A Developmental and Public Health Critique of Digital Rights Discourse.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Review
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  19. People are increasingly bored in our digital age.Communications psychology · 2024
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Li ZhangSchool of Public Health and Management, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Baokai WangYantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Qi XuSchool of Public Health and Management, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Chang FuSchool of Public Health and Management, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Binzhou University · CNYuhuangding Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Smartphone addiction has been found to be a widespread public health issue, especially among youth. Previous studies reported a significant association between anxiety and smartphone addiction, but the underlying mechanism in this relationship is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating roles of boredom proneness and self-control in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction. Methods: Self-reported measures of anxiety, boredom proneness, self-control and smartphone addiction were administered to 1,526 Chinese college students. Results: Smartphone addiction scores varied between 10 and 60 with an average of 30.89 ± 10.57 points. Anxiety had a direct and positive effect on smartphone addiction (effect = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.11-0.25), and an indirect effect on smartphone addiction through boredom proneness (effect = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.06-0.15) and self-control (effect = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.13-0.20). Boredom proneness and self-control sequentially mediated the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction (effect = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.10-0.15). Conclusion: Anxiety is positively associated with smartphone addiction, and boredom proneness and self-control are important mediators in this relationship. Strengthening self-control and mitigating boredom could prevent smartphone addiction in anxious college students.

Indexed as

BoredomSelf-ControlAdolescentAnxietyHumansInternet Addiction DisorderStudentsanxietyboredom pronenessmultiple mediating effectsself-controlsmartphone addiction

Identifiers

PMID37564421
PMCPMC10409989
OpenAlexW4385752159

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.