Citation

Ho TTQ, Tran TKL, Huynh SV. J. Public Ment. Health 2023; 22(1): 25-35.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Emerald Group Publishing)

DOI

10.1108/JPMH-08-2022-0081

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of cyber-victimization (CV) and the moderating effect of academic stress (AS) in the link between smartphone addiction (SPA) and psychological distress (PD) among a sample of Vietnamese college students.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH A total of 423 college students participated in this study. Measures of SPA, CV, AS and PD were used for data collection. Using PROCESS macro software (Model 4 and Model 1) and the bootstrapping method, the author performed a mediation analysis and a moderation analysis.

FINDINGS Results indicated a significant mediating effect of CV in the link between SPA and PD. Moreover, this relationship was moderated by AS.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE The findings could serve as a guide for future research and mental health professionals.

Language: en

Keywords

Academic stress; Cyber-victimization; Mediator; Moderator; Psychological distress; Smartphone addiction