Smartphone addiction and psychological distress among Vietnamese college students: cyber-victimization as a mediator and academic stress as a moderator

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of cyber-victimization (CV) and the moderating effect of academic stress (AS) in the link between smartphone addiction (SPA) and psychological distress (PD) among a sample of Vietnamese college students. Design/methodology/approachA total of 423 college students participated in this study. Measures of SPA, CV, AS and PD were used for data collection. Using PROCESS macro software (Model 4 and Model 1) and the bootstrapping method, the author performed a mediation analysis and a moderation analysis. FindingsResults indicated a significant mediating effect of CV in the link between SPA and PD. Moreover, this relationship was moderated by AS. Originality/valueThe findings could serve as a guide for future research and mental health professionals.