The Relationship Between Mobile Phone Addiction and Emotion in Chinese University Freshmen: A Latent Profile Analysis

This study aimed to elucidate the potential profiles of mobile phone addiction among Chinese undergraduate freshmen and its relationship with emotion. Administering scales to a sample of 3327 participants (Mage = 18.33, SD = 0.81; 43.67% males) with the Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale (MPAI) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the research employs latent profile analysis to elucidate the heterogeneity in mobile phone addiction within this demographic. Furthermore, the study scrutinizes the influence of various demographic variables on this heterogeneity. Our findings delineate four distinct latent profiles of mobile phone addiction: Non-addicted, Low-addicted, Moderately-addicted, and Highly-addicted. Notably, female students, individuals from rural backgrounds, and those with experiences of being left-behind emerge as particularly susceptible to varying degrees of mobile phone addiction. Additionally, students classified as Non-addicted exhibited significantly higher positive affect scores compared to those in the Low-addicted, Moderately-addicted, and Highly-addicted profiles. In contrast, students in the Highly-addicted profile had significantly elevated negative affect scores relative to the Non-addicted, Low-addicted, and Moderately-addicted groups. The study furnishes a theoretical foundation for higher education institutions to implement stratified and typological prevention and intervention measures aimed at mitigating student mobile phone addiction.