Surrounded by Smartphones: Relationship Between Peer Phubbing, Psychological Distress, Problematic Smartphone use, Daytime Sleepiness, and Subjective Sleep Quality

Experiencing peer phubbing is likely to affect adolescents’ quality of life negatively. The current study adopted structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between peer phubbing, individual mental health (i.e., psychological distress), behavior problems (i.e., problematic smartphone use), and physical functioning (i.e., daytime sleepiness and subjective sleep quality). The total sample contained 742 children and adolescents (395 females; Mean age = 15.39, SD = 1.66, range = 12–19). The results indicated that peer phubbing, psychological distress, and problematic smartphone use were positively related to daytime sleepiness but negatively correlated with subjective sleep quality. When age and gender were controlled, the link between peer phubbing and daytime sleepiness/subjective sleep quality was mediated sequentially by psychological distress and problematic smartphone use and sequentially by problematic smartphone use and psychological distress. The direct effect of peer phubbing was significant on daytime sleepiness but not subjective sleep quality. These findings suggested that peer phubbing could cause psychological distress to children and adolescents, increase their problematic smartphone use and daytime sleepiness, and decrease their subjective sleep quality. Interventions for children and adolescents with daytime sleepiness or poor subjective sleep quality should pay attention to their problematic smartphone use and the phubbing from their peers.