How Meaning in Life and Affect Influence Problematic Smartphone Use in Firefighter Students
A Two-Wave Study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7147315 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fangfang Pang, Shuxian Wang (0009-0004-2746-9666), Hao Dan, Ting Su (0000-0001-8606-4627, Hubei University of Science and Technology), Xiaoli Yang (0000-0001-7991-1488, Hunan University of Science and Technology), Haiyan Xing (0000-0003-1174-6441), Xu Chen (0000-0002-8164-3088), Chen Xu (0000-0002-5225-5350), Zhiwei Zhou (0000-0002-2260-0977, University of Southampton, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1683-1701 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Applied Research in Quality of Life (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1871-2576 • E-ISSN: 1871-2584 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11482-025-10476-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4413377184 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 64 |
Excessive mobile phone use has raised concerns about addiction among college students, yet research specifically addressing firefighter students remains limited. This study investigates how meaning in life (MIL) is associated with problematic smartphone use (PSU) in firefighter students, with positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) as mediators. Data from 606 participants ( M age = 22.73; SD = 2.67, 97% male) were collected across two waves, assessing MIL, PA, NA, and PSU. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with item parceling revealed that both PA ( B = − 0.09, SE = 0.04, p = .042, 95% CI [-0.176, − 0.003]) and NA ( B = − 0.05, SE = 0.01, p = .001, 95% CI [-0.073, − 0.017]) significantly mediate the MIL-PSU relationship. Specifically, higher MIL correlates with reduced PSU, mediated by increased PA and decreased NA. These results highlight the critical role of emotional states in the MIL-PSU link, offering insights for intervention strategies that focus on enhancing MIL and emotion to curb PSU in firefighter students. Additionally, the insignificant direct association between T1-MIL and T2-PSU among students with prior firefighting experience, in the absence of mediation by PA/NA, suggests the important and complex role of previous firefighting experience, which should be further explored when developing interventions tailored to firefighter students with and without such experience
Aesthetics · Art · Psychotherapist · Public health · Quality of Life Research · Sociology · Applied Psychology · Communication · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Media Influence and Health · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Technostress in Professional Settings
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |