Perceived Discrimination, Loneliness, Social Anxiety, and Smartphone Addiction Among Rural Left‐Behind Children in C hina: A Two‐Wave Longitudinal Cross‐Lagged Panel Study

ABSTRACT

This study examined prospective associations between perceived discrimination (PD) and smartphone addiction (SMA), and the mediating roles of loneliness and social anxiety, using a two‐wave longitudinal cross‐lagged panel design. A sample of 1773 rural left‐behind children (aged 10–15 years, mean age = 13.37, SD = 1.44; 822 boys [46.4%] and 951 girls [53.6%]) was assessed at two waves separated by 6 months. Results showed that PD at T1 exhibited significant cross‐lagged associations with SMA, loneliness, and social anxiety. Loneliness and social anxiety each independently mediated the prospective PD–SMA association. Bidirectional prospective associations were observed between loneliness and social anxiety. Bootstrap analyses identified two sequential contemporaneous–prospective indirect pathways: (a) concurrent PD–loneliness covariation at T1 prospectively predicting social anxiety T2, which in turn predicted SMA T2 ( β  = 0.008, 95% CI [0.004, 0.013]), and (b) concurrent PD–social anxiety covariation at T1 prospectively predicting loneliness T2, which in turn predicted SMA T2 ( β  = 0.010, 95% CI [0.007, 0.015]). Taken together, the findings indicate that perceived discrimination is prospectively associated with smartphone addiction through indirect pathways involving loneliness and social anxiety. Practical implications for school‐based interventions targeting left‐behind children are discussed.