How does parental psychological control strengthen the effects of risk factors for mobile phone addiction in vocational high school students? A moderated mediation model of loneliness and school connection

To explore the influence of parental psychological control on mobile phone addiction of vocational high school students and its mechanism. Starting from the perspectives of school, family and individual, further analyzing the mediating role of loneliness and the moderating role of school connection. The present study uses the parental psychological control scale, mobile phone addiction scale, loneliness scale and school connection questionnaire to investigate 1111 vocational high school students (Mage = 16.71 years, SD = 0.88) in a province in China. The results showed that: (1) Parental psychological control had a significant positive predictive effect on mobile phone addiction; (2) Loneliness plays a partial mediating role between parental psychological control and mobile phone addiction. (3) School connection plays a positive moderating role in the influence of loneliness on mobile phone addiction. The present study indicated that the relationship between parental psychological control and mobile phone addiction could be mediated by loneliness. More importantly, school connection plays a positive moderating role in the influence of loneliness on mobile phone addiction. Specifically, the positive predictive effect of loneliness on mobile phone addiction was greater for individuals with high levels of school connection than for individuals with low levels of school connection.