Introduction: Mobile phones bring convenience to people’s lives, but also affect their physical and mental health (especially in college students). Previous studies have revealed that mobile phone addiction is positively related to loneliness. This study further explored the mediating effects of boredom proneness and self-control on the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was conducted in the present study. The investigation employed the Chinese version of the UCLA Loneliness Self-report Scale, Boredom Proneness Scale-Short Form, the Chinese version of the Self-control scale, and the Mobile Phone Addiction Index. Out of 1122 college students, 1078 completed the questionnaire survey and became our final subjects. PROCESS macro of SPSS 21 was used to conduct explore the mediating roles of boredom proneness and self-control in the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction.
Results: Loneliness, boredom proneness, and mobile phone addiction were significantly and positively correlated with each other, as well as significantly negatively correlated with self-control. Boredom proneness and self-control, when operating in parallel, partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction. By contrast, when occurring sequentially, they fully mediated the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction.
Conclusion: Mobile phone addiction among lonely college students can be eliminated by exercising self-control and alleviating boredom proneness.
Keywords: loneliness, boredom proneness, self-control, mobile phone addiction, college students