ArticleBMC psychology2026
The impact of adverse childhood experiences on phubbing among college students at a medical university in China: the mediating role of depression and the moderating role of personal social capital.
Article in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe phenomenon of "screen-addicted youth" is becoming increasingly prevalent among Chinese college students. This study examines how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Personal Social Capital (PSC) and depression influence phubbing behavior in today's global digital environment.
methodsA stratified and convenience sampling method was used to survey 1918 college students at a comprehensive medical university in China using the Chinese version of the Revised Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Chinese version of the Generic Scale of Phubbing, and the Chinese version of the Personal Social Capital Scale 8 from October 8, 2024 to November 8, 2024. A moderated mediation model was employed to analyze the mediating effect of depression and the moderating effect of PSC.
resultsThere were significant positive correlations of phubbing with ACEs (r = 0.433, P < 0.001) and depression (r = 0.531, P < 0.001), while PSC was negatively correlated with phubbing behavior (r = -0.572, P < 0.001). Depression partially mediated the relationship between ACEs and phubbing behavior, with an indirect effect 0.126 (95% CI = 0.111-0.164), accounting for 36.84% of the total effect. PSC not only moderated the direct effect of this relationship (β = -0.087, t = -5.466, P < 0.001), but also moderated the first half of the indirect effect (β = -0.041, t = -2.148, P = 0.026).
conclusionsDepression partially mediates the association between ACEs and phubbing among students at a medical university in China, PSC was negatively associated with phubbing behavior and was linked to a weaker association between ACEs and depression, thereby being indirectly associated with lower levels of phubbing behavior. This study highlights the need for enhanced mental health interventions for Chinese students with high ACEs exposure and the importance of improving PSC.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.