Parental psychological control and smartphone addiction in Chinese college students: the moderated mediation roles of self-control and achievement motivation.

Although smartphones provide numerous benefits in daily life, evidence indicates that smartphone addiction has many potential risks. The effect of parental psychological control on smartphone addiction has been well established; however, little is known about the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Thus, we tested a moderated mediation model in which self-control was hypothesized to mediate the association between parental psychological control and smartphone addiction among college students, while achievement motivation was hypothesized to moderate the indirect pathway. A sample of 730 Chinese college students (M age = 19.22 years, SD = 0.79) anonymously completed questionnaires assessing parental psychological control, self-control, achievement motivation, including approach motivation and avoidance motivation, and smartphone addiction. The results indicated that (1) self-control mediated the association between parental psychological control and smartphone addiction and (2) the indirect pathway was moderated by approach motivation instead of avoidance motivation. Specifically, the association between lower self-control and smartphone addiction depended on the level of approach motivation. Higher self-control was related to lower levels of smartphone addiction, regardless of the level of approach motivation. These findings highlight the complex interplay between family environmental factors and individual characteristics in understanding smartphone addiction among college students.