The relationship between high school English learners’ anxiety and their smartphone addiction: evidence from a daily diary approach

TL;DR

This study finds a strong link between anxiety and smartphone addiction among high school English learners, with no significant gender differences in how anxiety affects addiction.

Contribution

The study introduces a daily diary approach to examine the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction in a specific educational context.

Findings

Anxiety level is a significant predictor of smartphone addiction severity in high school English learners.

Gender differences exist in smartphone addiction levels but not in how anxiety influences addiction severity.

The study supports the need for targeted interventions addressing anxiety and smartphone addiction in high school students.

Abstract

The issue of smartphone addiction among high school English learners is becoming more and more significant in this era of information technology, and it is directly associated with their anxiety.

To examine the correlation between high school English learners’ anxiety level and the severity of smartphone addiction, the anxiety and smartphone addiction levels of high school English learners were explored. SPSS 26 and MPLUS 8.3 were utilized for data analysis. The sample selected by stratified random sampling comprised 248 high school English learners from a high school in Shanxi Province, and a diary survey was conducted for seven consecutive days, obtaining a total of 1,610 valid data points.

The findings of the multilevel regression model indicated a substantial correlation between anxiety level and the severity of smartphone addiction among high school English learners. Anxiety level was a substantial favorable indicator of the severity of smartphone addiction; a notable disparity existed in the smartphone addiction levels of males and females; however, no significant difference was observed between the genders regarding the predicted influence of anxiety level on the severity of smartphone addiction.

This study examined the effect of anxiety levels on the severity of smartphone addiction and analyzed whether there were gender differences. Based on the results, this study proposes a study on anxiety and smartphone addiction interventions for high school English learners in basic education. The proposal offers evidence from both empirical and theory-based investigations to substantiate the healthy development of high school English learners.