Self-esteem level and smartphone use in Chinese adolescents: The role of self-esteem stability

Previous research has focused exclusively on generalized smartphone use, whereas an increasing number of studies have begun to examine specific smartphone use, including use patterns and use passion. Smartphone use has been found to be associated with self-esteem level, wherein this association might be influenced by self-esteem stability according to the perspective of the heterogeneity of self-esteem. This study aimed to examine the interactive effect of self-esteem level and stability on different types of smartphone use. The results based on the responses from 1324 Chinese secondary school students showed that self-esteem level had stronger associations with learning-related use, social interaction use, and entertainment use, and with harmonious and obsessive use passion among Chinese adolescents with high self-esteem stability compared with those with low self-esteem stability. The findings not only identify different smartphone use but also unravel its underlying mechanisms from the perspective of the heterogeneity of self-esteem, which lends support for the interventions to promote appropriate smartphone use and avoid inappropriate smartphone use.