From problematic screen use to stress: psychological quality and academic burnout among 10- and 13-year-olds children.

BACKGROUND: In the digital age, excessive screen-related behavior among children and adolescents has been associated with adverse psychological and academic outcomes; however, the indirect associations linking problematic screen use, psychological quality, and academic burnout remain under-explored. AIM: To examine the associations among problematic screen use, psychological quality, and academic burnout among students aged 10-13 and to test whether psychological quality and its dimensions were statistically involved in the association between problematic screen use and academic burnout. METHOD: A total of 476 upper-grade primary school students aged 10 and 13 were assessed using the Problematic Media Use Measure Short Form, Psychological Quality Scale, and Academic Burnout Scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS 27.0 and mediation models with Bootstrap methods. RESULTS: Problematic Screen Use was positively associated with academic burnout (r = 0.48, p < 0.01) and negatively associated with overall psychological quality (r = -0.38, p < 0.01) and its dimensions. Psychological quality exhibited a statistical masking pattern rather than a protective indirect association, driven primarily by the adaptability dimension. Higher Problematic Screen Use scores were associated with lower adaptability, whereas adaptability was positively associated with burnout in the adjusted model; together, these coefficients produced a negative indirect association that partially offset the positive direct association. A sequential indirect-effect model identified an ordered statistical pattern involving cognitive characteristics, personality traits, and adaptability. Because the data were cross-sectional, these findings do not establish temporal ordering or causal processes. CONCLUSION: Within this sample, the statistical role of psychological quality appeared to be context-dependent, with adaptability contributing to an unexpected masking pattern. The findings provide preliminary evidence regarding the associations among Problematic Screen Use, Psychological Quality, and Academic Burnout in upper-grade primary school students. They should be interpreted as cross-sectional, sample-specific associations rather than evidence of developmental mechanisms or causal effects.