Does childhood maltreatment increase the subsequent risk of problematic smartphone use among adolescents? A two-wave longitudinal study

There is a lack of longitudinal data on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problematic smartphone use and its underlying mechanisms. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent problematic smartphone use and explore the mediating effects of basic psychological needs and self-compassion in this relationship. We employed a two-wave longitudinal design among 890 Chinese adolescents (49.0% males, mean age at Time 2 = 15.96 ± 0.46 years). They completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale at Time 1, and the Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale at Time 2. The results indicated that prior maltreatment experiences positively predicted adolescents' subsequent problematic smartphone use (p < .001); and basic psychological needs satisfaction and self-compassion did not parallelly mediate the relationship between prior maltreatment experiences and subsequent problematic smartphone use. Finally, basic psychological needs satisfaction and self-compassion completely and sequentially mediated the relationship between prior maltreatment experiences and subsequent problematic smartphone use. Interventions that target students engaging in problematic smartphone use should focus on reducing childhood maltreatment and improving their psychological needs satisfaction and self-compassion.