Impact of Problematic Smartphone Use on Emotional Exhaustion: Mediating Role of Attention Dysregulation and Moderating Role of Mindfulness

This research investigated how excessive use of smartphones negatively impacts emotional exhaustion, and examined how attention control and mindfulness may help mitigate that impact. A sample of 340 young adults completed measures of problematic smartphone usage (the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale; Elhai et al., 2017), attention control (the Attention Control Scale; Derryberry & Reed, 2002), mindfulness (the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; Brown & Ryan, 2003), and emotional exhaustion (the Emotional Exhaustion Scale; Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Correlational and regression analyses indicated significant positive relations between emotional exhaustion and problematic smartphone usage, as well as significant associations between attention control and both emotional exhaustion and problematic smartphone usage. Mediation analysis indicated that attention control was a partial mediator (B = 0.15) between problematic smartphone usage and emotional exhaustion, suggesting that impaired attention control likely represents an underlying mechanism for the relationship between excessive smartphone use and emotional exhaustion. Moderation analysis demonstrated that mindfulness significantly attenuated the effect of problematic smartphone use on emotional exhaustion (B = −0.18), suggesting that mindfulness serves to buffer against the adverse emotional consequences of excessive smartphone usage. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate the importance of cognitive and emotional regulation strategies in minimizing the psychological effects of excessive smartphone use, and may inform future interventions to reduce emotional exhaustion in young adults by using strategies to increase mindfulness and/or attention control.