Exploring Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse and Mobile Phone Dependence in Left‐ and Non‐Left‐Behind Adolescents: Roles of Self‐Esteem, Social Anxiety, and Loneliness

ABSTRACT

Child abuse has been significantly associated with children's mobile phone dependence (MPD), particularly in left‐behind children (LBC). However, whether distinct forms of child abuse (physical and emotional) are associated with MPD in LBC and non‐left‐behind children (NLBC) through common or distinct psychological pathways remain uncertain. This research examined the comparative associations of different abuse types with MPD in LBC and NLBC, as well as the separate or combined roles of self‐esteem, social anxiety, and loneliness. In total, 4864 children (2296 LBC) responded to a self‐reported questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the indirect relations between emotional abuse, physical abuse, and MPD through self‐esteem, social anxiety, and loneliness. The results showed that emotional abuse was positively associated with MPD in LBC, with indirect associations through serial mediation involving self‐esteem, social anxiety, and loneliness. In NLBC, emotional abuse was positively associated with MPD through separate and serial mediation involving self‐esteem and social anxiety, whereas the mediating role of loneliness was non‐significant. The indirect effects from physical abuse to MPD were statistically nonsignificant in either group. These findings suggest that emotional abuse showed more robust associations with MPD than physical abuse and that the psychological pathways linking abuse to MPD showed distinct patterns in LBC and NLBC, highlighting the importance of addressing emotional abuse in prevention and intervention efforts for vulnerable LBC.