Demographic, social, psychological, mental health, and academic correlates of problematic smartphone use among French psychology students.

Background: Problematic smartphone use (PSU) among university students has raised increasing concern due to its links with psychological distress, cognitive difficulties, and academic impairment. Despite extensive international research, data on PSU among French university students-particularly psychology students-remain limited. Psychology students constitute a distinctive population because they receive formal training on addiction mechanisms, yet may still engage in maladaptive smartphone use, illustrating a potential intention-behavior gap. Objectives: This study aimed to (1) estimate the prevalence and severity of PSU among French psychology students; (2) examine sociodemographic, behavioral, social, psychological, mental health, and academic correlates and predictors of PSU score severity; and (3) test whether social variables moderate and mental health variables mediate the relationship between smartphone use frequency (SUF) and PSU severity. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 973 psychology undergraduate and master's students recruited from two French universities. Participants completed measures of PSU, smartphone use behaviors, social resources, cognitive functioning, impulsivity, personality traits, future-self connection, mental health, and academic functioning. Correlation analyses, multivariate linear regression, and moderation/mediation analyses with bootstrapping were performed. Results: The mean PSU score was slightly below the midpoint of the 1-7 scale. Using a conservative estimation method, the prevalence of PSU was between 1.64% and 5.14%. However, according to an alternative prevalence estimation method, 25% of participants exceeded the cut-off score of 4.14. Higher PSU scores was observed among younger students, women, bisexual participants, and undergraduates. Impulsivity emerged as the strongest predictor of PSU, followed by smartphone-related problems, SUF, and working memory difficulties. Lower social support, lower conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, poorer mental health, and greater academic-smartphone use interferences were associated with higher PSU. Sleep difficulties, depressive mood, and self-esteem partially mediated the SUF-PSU relationship. Community engagement and future-self connection unexpectedly strengthened, rather than buffered, the SUF-PSU association. Conclusions: PSU constitutes an issue of relevance among French psychology students despite high awareness of addiction-related risks. Findings highlight the central role of impulsivity, cognitive control, and mental health, and suggest that awareness alone is insufficient to prevent PSU. Interventions should focus on self-regulation, emotional coping, and context-specific academic smartphone use.