Disentangling stable traits from dynamic processes: a longitudinal investigation of academic burnout and problematic mobile phone use.

BACKGROUND: Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has become a prevalent behavioral concern among university students, particularly in China. Although academic burnout is considered a key stressor, the temporal directionality between burnout and PMPU remains inconclusive. This study aimed to clarify their longitudinal relationship using a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM). METHODS: A three-wave longitudinal design was employed among Chinese university freshmen (N = 4,903; mean age = 19.28 years; 59.7% female), with data collected at six-month intervals over one year. Academic burnout and PMPU were assessed using validated self-report scales. RI-CLPM was applied to disentangle between-person and within-person effects. Measurement invariance and gender invariance were also tested. RESULT: At the between-person level, academic burnout was positively associated with PMPU (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), indicating stable trait-level co-occurrence. At the within-person level, increases in academic burnout significantly predicted subsequent increases in PMPU (β = 0.07, p = 0.01). However, the reverse effect from PMPU to academic burnout was not significant (β = 0.03, p = 0.08). These findings support a unidirectional relationship. Multi-group analyses further demonstrated that the model was invariant across gender (Δχ² = 2.11, p = 0.72). CONCLUSION: The findings provide longitudinal evidence that higher levels of academic burnout prospectively predict subsequent increases in PMPU. PMPU may reflect a maladaptive coping response to academic resource depletion. These findings suggest that interventions targeting academic burnout may help reduce subsequent risk for PMPU.