Resilience and Sense of Coherence as Mediators in the Association between Problematic Mobile Phone Use and Depression

Background: Depression is a prevalent mental health issue today. Problematic mobile phone use, commonly referred to as mobile phone addiction, is a potential factor that may contribute to the development of depression. A recent study suggests that excessive use of mobile phones may reduce the ability to cope with stress (Behav. Sci., 2022). Resilience and sense of coherence have been identified as predictors of effective stress coping (Curr Psychol., 2021). However, it remains unclear whether psychological resilience and a sense of coherence play a mediating role in the relationship between excessive smartphone use and depressive symptoms. This study aims to investigate the connection between problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms, exploring the potential mediating influence of psychological resilience and a sense of coherence in this relationship. 
Methods: The study acquired questionnaires’ data from 82 subjects. Problematic mobile phone use, depression, resilience, and the sense of coherence traits were evaluated using the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale short version (MPPUS-10), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC scale), respectively. Subjects' All data were analyzed with IBM SPSS 25.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) for descriptive statistics and correlation analyses. Amos for SPSS was used to make the proposed serial mediation model. Bootstrapping analysis with 2000 resamples was conducted to test the significance of the mediation effects. The weighted least squares and mean and variance estimator was used as the outcome was categorical. 
Results: MPPUS-10 were negatively correlated with resilience (r = -0.373, p =<0.001), sense of coherence (r = -0.415, p <0.001) and positively correlated with depression (r =0.362, p <0.001). A serial multiple mediation model was generated. The mediation effect of resilience and sense of coherence on the pathway from MPPU to depression was 49.78% (direct effect: standardized estimate [Std. estimate] = 0.182; total indirect effect: Std. estimate = 0.180). The association between MPPU and sense of coherence was partially mediated by resilience (direct effect: Std. estimate = 0.217; indirect effect: Std. estimate = -0.198). 
Conclusion: This study explored the relationships among depression, mobile phone problem use, resilience, and the sense of coherence in mostly subclinical subjects. We found a serial multiple mediation effect of resilience and the sense of coherence on the pathway from mobile phone problem use to depression. Resilience first played a partial mediating role in the association between mobile phone problem use and sense of coherence, then the sense of coherence in turn fully mediated the pathway from resilience to depression. In interventions for mobile phone problem use, it might be recommendable to strengthen resilience and the sense of coherence to prevent depression.