As mobile phones become increasingly indispensable in modern life, problematic mobile phone use among nursing interns has gained growing attention from nursing educators and clinical practitioners. Time management disposition and family care have been identified as key factors associated with addictive behaviors. The primary objective of this study is to investigate, from a cross-sectional perspective, the interrelationships among time management disposition, family care, and mobile phone addiction in nursing interns using a network analysis approach. A total of 291 nursing interns (246 females and 45 males) were recruited using convenience sampling in this cross-sectional study between May and July 2025. An online questionnaire was administered via the “Wenjuanxing” platform to collect demographic information and data regarding mobile phone addiction, time management disposition, and family care. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. A network structure model was established in RStudio, with relevant algorithms employed to compute node relationships and centrality indices. The mean score on the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI) among nursing interns was 49.94 ± 8.58. Overall, 27.49% of participants reported some degree of family dysfunction. The constructed network consisted of 12 nodes and 40 non-zero edges, with a network density of 0.606. The node with the highest expected influence (EI = 1.18) was “Sense of Time Control”, whereas “Growth” acted as the bridging node linking the three domains: mobile phone addiction, time management disposition, and family care. Stability analysis confirmed that the network exhibited high accuracy and robust stability, with a node strength centrality stability (CS) coefficient of 0.67. Nursing interns in this sample showed a higher likelihood of mobile phone addiction than the general student population, and a considerable proportion reported some level of family dysfunction. Within the network, sense of time control emerged as a central node, while family growth functioned as a key bridging node. These findings may suggest potential targets for future longitudinal or experimental research aimed at understanding the maintenance of this network and developing interventions to promote rational mobile phone use among nursing interns. Not applicable.
Sun et al. (Sat,) studied this question.