The connection between academic involution atmosphere and smartphone addiction has not been sufficiently examined, and the mechanism underlying this correlation remains unclear. The present study explored how academic involution atmosphere influences smartphone addiction, focusing on psychological distress as a potential mediator and mindfulness as a moderator. A sample of 5909 university students participated and responded to self-report measures assessing academic involution atmosphere, psychological distress, mindfulness, and smartphone addiction. Findings indicated a significant positive association between academic involution atmosphere and smartphone addiction. Moreover, psychological distress was found to serve as a partial mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, mindfulness served as a moderator for the mediation pathway through psychological distress. Specifically, the associations of academic involution atmosphere with both psychological distress and smartphone addiction were attenuated among students reporting higher mindfulness. Interestingly, the link between psychological distress and smartphone addiction appeared more pronounced in students with higher mindfulness. These results contribute to the existing literature by clarifying a potential mechanism underlying smartphone addiction. The study suggests that interventions aimed at alleviating academic involution atmosphere, mitigating psychological distress, and cultivating mindfulness may help reduce smartphone addiction use among college students.
Zhang et al. (2026) studied this question.