Parental Phubbing and Problematic Mobile Phone Use Among Chinese Early Adolescents: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model

Adolescence is a high-risk period for problematic mobile phone use (PMPU), which exerts severe adverse impacts on adolescents’ physical and mental health. Cross-sectional studies have identified parental phubbing as a core predictor of adolescent PMPU, yet longitudinal evidence for this association remains scarce, as do investigations into protective factors that may attenuate this link. Grounded in Davis’ cognitive-behavioral model and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, this one-year three-wave longitudinal study examined the mediating role of core self-evaluation in the relationship between parental phubbing and adolescent PMPU, as well as the moderating role of peer relationships in this mediational process. A sample of 807 early adolescents from southern China (52.4% female; Mage = 12.04 years at baseline) completed self-report assessments at six-month intervals. The results of path analysis, adjusting for age, gender, and family socioeconomic status, showed that parental phubbing at Time 1 significantly predicted higher PMPU at Time 3, and this longitudinal association was significantly mediated by core self-evaluation at Time 2, with peer relationships moderating both the direct path from parental phubbing to PMPU and the first stage of the mediation effect (parental phubbing on core self-evaluation). Specifically, the associations of parental phubbing with core self-evaluation and subsequent PMPU were significantly stronger among adolescents with poor peer relationships, whereas these associations were attenuated for those with high-quality peer relationships. This study reveals a moderated mediation pattern underlying the longitudinal association of parental phubbing with Chinese adolescents’ PMPU, and offers culturally informed considerations for the prevention of adolescent PMPU within the Chinese cultural context.