The Longitudinal Association between Parental Phubbing and Adolescent Loneliness: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

: Background: With the rapid proliferation of smartphones in family life and the rising prevalence of adolescent loneliness, this study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship between parental phubbing and adolescent loneliness, and to investigate the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction and the moderating role of self-concept clarity. Methods: A total of 624 adolescents (Mean age = 14.25 ± 1.67, 57.05% female) completed a two-wave survey with a 6-month interval. Cross-lagged models were used to analyze the longitudinal predictive relationships among parental phubbing, basic psychological need satisfaction, and adolescent loneliness. A multi-group cross-lagged analysis (Wald tests) was used to examine the moderating effect of self-concept clarity. Results: T1 parental phubbing significantly positively predicted T2 adolescent loneliness ( β = 0.11, p < 0.001) and significantly negatively predicted T2 basic psychological need satisfaction ( β = − 0.30, p < 0.001); T1 basic psychological need satisfaction significantly negatively predicted T2 adolescent loneliness ( β = − 0.16, p < 0.001), and T1 adolescent loneliness significantly negatively predicted T2 basic psychological need satisfaction ( β = − 0.23, p = 0.002). Basic psychological need satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between parental phubbing and adolescent loneliness. Self-concept clarity significantly moderated both the direct path and the first stage of the mediation path. Conclusions: Parental phubbing was prospectively associated with later adolescent loneliness by reducing basic psychological need satisfaction, and self-concept clarity showed a protective moderating effect only in the first half of the mediation path. The findings suggested that family interventions should aim to reduce parental phubbing, enhance adolescents’ basic psychological need satisfaction, and provide psychological support for adolescents with lower self-concept clarity.