Interpersonal uncertainty and mobile phone addiction among Chinese college students: the mediating effect of social and emotional loneliness and the moderating effect of optimism

The main aim of this study was to investigate whether and how interpersonal uncertainty results in mobile phone addiction. Sampling 997 Chinese college students, we found that interpersonal uncertainty had positive predictive power for mobile phone addiction, and social and emotional loneliness mediated the link between interpersonal uncertainty and mobile phone addiction. Additionally, optimism moderated the direct effect of interpersonal uncertainty on mobile phone addiction and the first-stage mediating effect of interpersonal uncertainty on mobile phone addiction through social and emotional loneliness; that is, the higher the level of optimism among college students, the weaker the (in)direct effect of interpersonal uncertainty on mobile phone addiction. Our research findings reveal the role and mechanisms of interpersonal uncertainty in mobile phone addiction and shed light on the importance of reducing interpersonal uncertainty and fostering positive traits to effectively prevent and intervene in mobile phone addiction.