Decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use: the mediation of anxiety and the moderation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4186676/v1

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Research Article

Decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use: the mediation of anxiety and the moderation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4186676/v1

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Background

Decisional procrastination (DP) has an important effect on problematic mobile phone use (PMPU); however, the potential mechanisism and boundary conditions between DP and PMPU remianed to be further explored. This essay studied the mediation of anxiety between DP and PMPU and whether 2019-nCoV traumatic experience moderated the mediation process.

Methods

A questionnaire was used in this study. A valid sample of 798 college students reported levels of decisional procrastination, problematic mobile phone use, anxiety, and 2019-nCoV traumatic experience.

Results

The results indicated that decisional procrastination is positively associated with problematic mobile phone use among college students. Anxiety served as a partial mediator in the association between decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use. 2019-nCoV traumatic experience would positively moderated the mediating effects of anxiety between DP and PMPU. A higher degree of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience would strengthen the mediation effects of DP to PMPU through anxiety.

Conclusions

This study deepens our understanding of how DP affects college students' PMPU. It was found in the study that 2019-nCoV traumatic experience positively moderated the mediation effects of anxiety between DP and PMPU. These findings provide universities with a theoretical foundation for preventing PMPU among college students.

Decisional procrastination

Problematic mobile phone use

Anxiety

2019-nCoV traumatic experience

Mobile phones are an indelible part of our social lives and have become a necessity [1]. The total count of mobile phone users in China amounted to 1.710 billion, representing a net growth of 26.53 million individuals compared to the data recorded in December 2022; additionally, 99.8% of Chinese Internet users rely on mobile phones to accessing the Internet [2]. However, PMPU has become problem [3]; PMPU is defined as a harmful and excessive use of smartphones [4]. Mobile phones have become ubiquitous in individuals’ daily routines, serving as an essential tool for educational and professional endeavors [1]. College students utilize mobile phones in their academic pursuits for communication, assignment submission, and information search [5]. Past research has indicated a growing prevalence of PMPU among the youth population in China [6], particularly among college students [7]. PMPU has been empirically demonstrated to be associated with procrastination, future anxiety, depression, excessive rumination, loneliness, and self-efficacy [1, 8, 9]; among college students, PMPU negatively affects academic performance and mental health [10, 11]. Thus, it is of great practical importance to investigate the potential influencing factors of PMPU among college students.

DP is a major factor to PMPU [9], and it may have an impact on PMPU through anxiety [7, 12]. At the same time, the 2019-nCoV pandemic can lead to higher levels of anxiety, as well as exacerbate PMPU [13]. Therefore, the 2019-nCoV traumatic experience may moderate the relationship between anxiety and PMPU among college students. Fewer studies have explored the mediation of anxiety in the relationship between DP and PMPU, and the moderation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience in this mediation. Therefore, the current study was to address the aforementioned gaps by investigating the role of anxiety as a mediator and the moderating effect of the 2019-nCoV traumatic experience.

Decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use

Previous research has indicated that procrastination significantly contributes to mobile addiction among student populations [14]. Currently, the issue of procrastination has been prevalent among adolescents, primarily attributed to their increased propensity to allocate excessive time towards engaging with social media platforms. This behavior can potentially contribute to the development of mobile addiction [15]. Procrastination refers to the inclination to defer the initiation or prolong the completion of a significant task that was initially expected to be undertaken, resulting in adverse consequences for the individual [16]. Researchers have categorized procrastination into DP, behavioral procrastination, arousal procrastination, and avoidant procrastination [17, 18]. DP has attracted increasing attention among scholars [19, 20] and is defined as the tendency to delay making decisions within a specified time frame [21]. Milgram and Tenne [17] distinguished DP from other types and suggested that decision-making logically and psychologically mean acting once a decision has been made, which may cause individuals to be more thoughtful and cautious toward decision-making. In addition, the decision-making strategies of individuals with high DP are fundamentally distinct from those of others; that is, they tend to continue seeking additional information, resulting in protracted decision-making, despite being already ready to decide [22]. A recent empirical study revealed that students with a tendency for DP suffered from PMPU [9]. Thus essay explored the influences of DP on PMPU, expecting to master more empirical evidence. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 referred to DP has significantly positive prediction to PMPU among college students.

Mediating role of anxiety

Researchers have applied the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, which was proposed by Brand et al. [23] to the study of trait procrastination and PMPU [3, 24]. This model posits that certain individual characteristics influence the perception of a given situation and subsequently trigger appropriate emotional and cognitive responses, influencing executive function and the decision-making process. I-PACE is used to provide insight into the origins of barriers to Internet use and their persistence [25] and behavioral addictions such as PMPU [3]. There is a positive association between DP and anxiety [19], and students with a tendency to procrastinate usually experience a greater degree of anxiety [12]. Moreover, DP substantially and positively influences future anxiety and test anxiety [9, 26]. As a negative personal emotion, anxiety is crucial in predicting college students' PMPU [7, 27]. This study identified DP as a distinct personality trait. College students who exhibit DP may experience anxiety in their daily lives and are likely to develop a PMPU by attempting to alleviate this anxiety. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was put forwards that anxiety mediated the association between DP and PMPU.

Moderating role of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience

The 2019-nCoV pandemic has had negative impacts on mental health and addictive behaviors [28–30]. In particular, 2019-nCoV isolation causes people to remain at home for extended periods, which can increase personal anxiety [28]. According to Ravens-Sieberer et al. [30], two-thirds of young people had more mental health issues during the 2019-nCoV pandemic than before the pandemic, manifested primarily by a decrease in quality of life and an increase in anxiety. Moreover, anxiety increases proportionally in relation to an individual’s degree of concern about 2019-nCoV [13]. Zvolensky et al. [31] demonstrated the effects of the 2019-nCoV pandemic on addictive behaviors. For instance, the incidence of PMPU has increased since the 2019-nCoV pandemic [32]. In addition, research indicates that negative life events similar to adversity in childhood moderate the indirect effects of psychological acceptance of PMPU [33]. For many adolescents, the 2019-nCoV pandemic is a negative life event because their daily lives are altered by school closures and social distancing [34].

In the past empirical researches, moderation and mediation would usually be inspected separately while be combined when explaining results; there were obvious weaknesses in this analyzing method. According to the suggestions by Edwards and Lambert [35] which combined moderation and mediation effects, moderation and mediation models should be combined and be analyzed the results respectively from individual route. The studies of Kong et al. [36] pointed out that anxiety influenced PMPU differing from conditions. So, the study inferred that the indirect impacts of DP on PMPU depended on 2019-nCoV traumatic experience. When college students faced with more 2019-nCoV traumatic experience, the relationship between DP and PMPU through anxiety was stronger, comparing with those with less. Therefore, this research raised Hypothesis 3: 2019-nCoV traumatic experience positively moderated the mediation effect of anxiety between DP and PMPU; the more the 2019-nCoV traumatic experience was, the stronger mediation effect was.

In conclusion, the research aimed at discussing the potential mechanism and boundary conditions between DP and PMPU among Chinese college students, namely the mediation of anxiety and the moderation effects of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience. The hypothesized conceptual model is depicted in Fig. 1.

Participants

In total, 840 college students from two universities in China's Yunnan and Hainan provinces participated in the present study. Each participant signed an informed consent form. A total of 42 samples were disqualified for responding too quickly. The study examined valid responses from 798 students, with 255 men (32.95%) and 543 women (68.05%). Although sample characteristics differ from college to college, the college students’ samples were almost the same with national college students group, with more female and less male [37]. The Hainan Technology and Business College Research Ethics Committee approved this study (HGS-2022-02). Before filling out the questionnaire, every participant indicated willingness to partake in the study. The entire procedure was conducted anonymously, and participants could quit at any time.

Research tools

DP scale

A five-item DP scale devised by Mann et al. [21] was used in the study. The participants' responses were assessed using a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The overall average was calculated for each question. A higher score implied a greater DP. The Cronbach's Alpha for the scale was 0.896 in this study, indicating high reliability.

Self-rating anxiety scale

The 20-item version of the Zung's [38] scale was used to quantify anxiety levels. The participants' responses were assessed using a four-point Likert scale (1 = none or a little of the time, 4 = most or all of the time). A higher score implied a higher degree of anxiety. The Cronbach's Alpha for the scale in the present study was 0.873, indicating high reliability.

The coronavirus traumatic experience scale

The 2019-nCoV traumatic experience was measured by the coronavirus traumatic experience scale [39]. It comprises eight items over two dimensions, namely catastrophic cognition (CC) and trauma symptoms (TS). A higher score implied a greater level of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience. The participants' responses were assessed using a six-point Likert scale (1 = completely incorrect, 6 = completely accurate). The Cronbach's Alpha was 0.845 for CC, 0.822 for TS, and 0.885 for the full scale, indicating high reliability in the present study.

PMPU scale

Leung's [40] scale was used to measure college students' PMPU. The scale consists of 17 items across four dimensions, namely inability to control craving (ICC), feeling anxious and lost (FAL), withdrawal/escape (WE), and productivity loss (PL), with a higher score indicating more severe problem of PMPU. The participants' responses were assessed using a five-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 5 = always). The Cronbach's Alpha of each dimension was as follows: 0.844 for ICC, 0.839 for FAL, 0.780 for WE, 0.74 for PL, and 0.904 for the entire scale in this study, indicating high reliability.

Statistical analysis

First, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS. Second, PROCESS (model 4) was employed to test whether anxiety mediated the relationship between DP and PMPU. PROCESS (model 14) was used to test whether 2019-nCoV traumatic experience moderated the effect of anxiety on PMPU.

Common method bias test

The common method variance (CMV) was evaluated through Harman's one-factor test. Non-rotated factors analysis gave a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin score of 0.92 (> 0.8), and Bartlett’s test of sphericity implied a statistically significant result (p < 0.001). The explanatory power of the first factor was 23.97%, which was below the 50% threshold [41]. Consequently, CMV in the present study was not high.

Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis

Table 1 displays each variable's mean, standard deviations, and correlation. DP was positively correlated with anxiety, 2019-nCoV traumatic experience, and PMPU. In addition, anxiety was positively correlated with both 2019-nCoV traumatic experience and PMPU. Lastly, 2019-nCoV traumatic experience was positively correlated with PMPU. The correlation coefficients between any two variables ranged from 0.177 to 0.561, indicating no collinearity problem.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4
Decisional procrastination	2.856	0.804	1
Anxiety	1.945	0.418	0.322^***	1
2019-nCoV traumatic experience	2.694	0.813	0.177^***	0.338^***	1
Problematic mobile phone use	2.792	0.689	0.561^***	0.337^***	0.231^***	1

^***p < 0.001

Results of mediation analysis

PROCESS (model 4) was employed to examine the mediation effect. As demonstrated in Table 2, in model 1, DP showed a significant and positive association with PMPU (B = 0.481, p < 0.001); in model 2, DP exhibited a significant and positive association with anxiety (B = 0.167, p < 0.001); in model 3, anxiety was found to have a significant and positive influence on PMPU (B = 0.288, p < 0.001). Bootstrapping for the mediating test (sample size of 5000) demonstrated that DP significantly influenced PMPU through anxiety (95% CI=[.030, .071], effect size = 0.048). Anxiety, therefore, partially mediated the relationship between DP and PMPU.

Table 2

Test for the mediating role of anxiety
Variables	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3
	Problematic mobile phone use		Anxiety		Problematic mobile phone use
	B	t	B	t	B	t
Decisional procrastination	0.481	19.144^***	0.167	9.593^***	0.433	16.635^***
Anxiety					0.288	5.749^***
R²	0.315		0.104		0.343
F	366.479^***		92.023^***		207.144^***
^***p < 0.001. Β = unstandardized coefficients

Results of the moderated mediation model

Model 14 in PROCESS was adopted in this study to test mediation effects with moderation, which was developed by Preacher and Hayes [42], aiming at indicating probably indirect effects with moderation and their significance in 95% of confidence interval. When 0 was not included in the 95% of confidence interval, the indirect impacts of college students’ DP on PMPU was significant. The moderating factors of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience were evaluated in three levels: lower than the sample mean with more than one standard deviation, sample mean, higher than the sample mean more than one standard deviation referring to low, medium and high respectively. It was showed in Table 3 that the indirect impacts of college students’ DP on PMPU through anxiety depended on the degree of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience. The moderation effects could be seen in Fig. 2. the higher degree the 2019-nCoV traumatic experience was, the indirect impacts became more significant, showing that the indirect impacts of college students’ DP on PMPU through anxiety was stronger when with higher degree of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 was supported.

Table 3

Conditional process analysis for the moderated mediation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience
Model	2019-nCoV traumatic experience	Boot indirect effect	Boot SE	95% CI
Model	2019-nCoV traumatic experience	Boot indirect effect	Boot SE	Lower	Upper
M − 1SD	− .813	.022	.012	− .002	.047
Mean	.000	.039	.010	.020	.059
M + 1SD	.813	.055	.013	.030	.082

Bootstrapping random sampling 5,000 times. CI = confidence interval. In this model, DP was antecedent,; anxiety was the mediation; PMPU was the outcome.

This study investigated the relationship between DP and PMPU among college students and the mediation of anxiety and moderation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience in this relationship. These findings provide colleges and universities with recommendations for preventing PMPU among college students.

Firstly, the results indicate that DP is positively associated with PMPU among college students. Our findings are consistent with those in the literature [9] in that we not only demonstrated that DP as a personality trait was a significant predictor of PMPU, but also applied these findings to the Chinese university student population. DP is a maladaptive mode of postponing decisions when confronted with conflicts and options [21]. People who are accustomed to procrastination are more inclined to pursue the pleasures of the moment and tend to lose sight of long-term intentions and pursuits [43]. Individuals with a high level of DP are easily distracted [44], and instant gratification-based distractions appeal to them more [45]. College students can easily exhibit excessive mobile phone usage due to the addictive nature of available entertainment and social mobile phone functions [3]. Moreover, it has been observed that persons exhibiting elevated levels of procrastination are more prone to engaging in problematic Internet usage, reinforcing their inclination toward developing mobile addiction [9]. Therefore, DP may contribute to PMPU among college students.

Secondly, our results indicate that anxiety partially mediated the relationship between DP and PMPU, suggesting that DP may indirectly influence PMPU among college students through anxiety. Consistently with other researches, our findings indicate that DP is associated with anxiety [19], and that students who procrastinated experience greater anxiety [12]. Moreover, the research indicates that PMPU is associated with anxiety [46]. PMPU is likely to develop when individuals experienced high anxiety levels [47]. When an individual has a psychological problem, they may use social media to affirm their value [28], exacerbating the problem of PMPU. In addition, our findings indicate that DP as a personal trait may cause negative emotions, such as anxiety, and PMPU, supporting the application of the I-PACE theoretical model in trait procrastination and PMPU research.

Thirdly, the researches results showed 2019-nCoV traumatic experience positively moderated the mediation effects of anxiety between DP and PMPU. In details, higher degree of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience strengthened the mediation effects of DP on PMPU through anxiety. Many reasons for this may exist. On one hand, a study indicated that the anxiety level of individuals during the 2019-nCoV pandemic was significantly higher than that before the pandemic [48]. As an adverse life event, the 2019-nCoV pandemic has exerted a slight negative effect on the mental health of college students [49]. On the other hand, quarantine policies during the 2019-nCoV pandemic may have caused individuals to overuse their smartphones, thereby increasing the likelihood of PMPU [50]. Several studies have demonstrated that the incidence of PMPU during the 2019-nCoV pandemic is significantly higher than before the outbreak [31]. Therefore, 2019-nCoV traumatic experience may amplify the effect of anxiety on college students' PMPU. This study results provided empirical evidence that 2019-nCoV traumatic experience strengthened the mediation effects of anxiety between DP and PMPU.

The results of this study have significant practical contributions. Firstly, college instructors should encourage students to act immediately upon deciding to reduce DP. Secondly, colleges and universities should strengthen anxiety interventions for college students, such as mental health courses, group counseling activities, and individual counseling, to help them to alleviate anxiety. Thirdly, college instructors should assist students in developing a proper understanding of disaster cognition and preparing for 2019-nCoV traumatic experience.

There are some limitations in this study, which should be addressed by future researches. First, although the variables chosen for inclusion in the study were based on theory, the design was cross-sectional, making it challenging to draw more robust causal conclusions. Longitudinal studies should be conducted in future research. Second, data collection was reliant on self-reporting, which may have caused reporting bias. Therefore, interview research should be incorporated into future studies. Third, because the study subjects were from only two Chinese cities, extrapolation to other regions requires caution. Therefore, future studies should use expanded samples across different regions.

This study deepens our understanding of how DP affects college students' PMPU. DP contributes to the development of anxiety, which impacts college students' PMPU. It was also found in the study that 2019-nCoV traumatic experience positively moderated the mediation effects of anxiety between DP and PMPU. To make it in details, higher degree of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience strengthened the mediation effects of DP on PMPU through anxiety. These findings provide universities with a theoretical foundation for preventing PMPU among college students.

PMPU

Problematic mobile phone use

Decisional procrastination

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Hainan Technology and Business College (HGS-2022-02). Prior to the commencement of the study, the researcher explained to all participants that all information gathered during the program would be kept private and confidential, as would their authority to withdraw from the program at any point in time they would like to do so. Furthermore, The informed consent was obtained from all participants. All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before participating in the study. All methods have been carried out in accordance with research guidelines and regulations related to human research ethics.

Consent for publication

All participants were informed of the purpose of the study after which they provided their informed consent.

Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Authors’ contributions

LC, JL, and JH designed the study. LC and JL performed data collection. SG, LC and JH conducted the statistical analysis. All authors contributed to the study and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all students participating in this study.

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Decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use: the mediation of anxiety and the moderation of 2019-nCoV traumatic experience

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Introduction

Decisional procrastination and problematic mobile phone use

Research methods

DP scale

Self-rating anxiety scale

The coronavirus traumatic experience scale

PMPU scale

Statistical analysis

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Abbreviations

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References

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