Impact of Learning Burnout on Mobile Phone Dependence Among Adolescents in Western China Under the “Double Reduction” Policy: The Mediating Role of Social Support

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigated the prevalence of mobile phone dependence (MPD) and its associated with learning burnout under the “double reduction” policy among adolescents in Guizhou Province in western China. In addition, the influence of the mediating mechanism of social support on this relationship was investigated.

Methods

The sample was collected from 16,216 adolescents in West China’s Guizhou province, from December 2021 to January 2022 via multistage stratified random sampling. The Self-rating Questionnaire for Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use (SQAPMPU) was used to assess the MPD, the Adolescent Student Burnout Scale (ASBI) was used to assess the learning burnout, and the Social Support Scale (SSS) was used to assess the social support. A hierarchical linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between MPD, learning burnout, and social support. The mediating effect of social support between MPD and learning burnout was analyzed by structural equation model.

Results

Prevalence of MPD was 26.4% among adolescents in Guizhou province in western China. After adjusting for confounding variables like demographics, multiple linear regression model has revealed that learning burnout positively predicted MPD and social support negatively predicted MPD. The structural equation model showed that 10.9% of the effect was explained by the mediating effect of social support.

Conclusion

These findings could inform service delivery and policy formulation to reduce learning and avoid MPD in adolescents.

Keywords:

• “double reduction” policy
• mobile phone dependence
• learning burnout
• social support
• adolescents

Ethics Statement

Our study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki. Our study was approved by the Human Experiment Ethics Committee of Guizhou Medical University (No. 2021-229). All respondents read the consent form and completed the survey voluntarily. Informed consent was obtained from the participants and their parents.

Acknowledgments

We thank all the participating institutions for providing information and assistance during the study. The authors also thank all members of the investigational team who collected the data.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Guizhou Province education science planning key topic, 2021 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students in Guizhou Province, Research project of Guizhou Drug Evaluation Center (grant number: 2021A042, s202110660042, GZSADRHT2021004).