The longitudinal relationships between smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms among adolescents: A cross-lagged panel network analysis

Abstract

The co-occurrence of smartphone addiction and depression is a growing concern among adolescents. From a network perspective, this comorbidity may arise from dynamic interactions between symptoms that bridge these two issues. However, previous studies have rarely examined these associations at the symptom level or identified central symptoms underlying the overlap between smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms among adolescents. To address this gap, this study investigated the longitudinal relationships between smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms in 936 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 15.93, SD = 0.52; 38.03% girls) using Cross-Lagged Panel Network (CLPN) analysis over a three-month interval. The findings indicated that specific depressive symptoms, namely ‘Meaninglessness’ (Out-Expected Influence [OEI] = 1.76) and the smartphone addiction symptoms such as ‘Phone tolerance’ (OEI = 0.70), predicted the subsequent development of symptoms for each mental health issue. ‘Meaninglessness’ showed the highest OEI across all symptom nodes, whereas ‘Phone tolerance’ demonstrated the highest OEI specifically within the smartphone addiction symptoms. Furthermore, ‘Meaninglessness’ (Bridge Expected Influence [BEI] = 2.06) and ‘Apathy’ (a depressive symptom; BEI = 1.47) were identified as critical bridge symptoms linking the smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms. These findings provide evidence of temporal predictive associations between smartphone addiction and depressive symptoms and identify ‘Meaninglessness’ and ‘Apathy’ as key candidate symptoms that may warrant further attention in future prevention and intervention research.