College students’ loneliness and mobile phone addiction: mediating role of mobile phone anthropomorphism and moderating role of interpersonal relationship quality

This study offers a fresh perspective on comprehending the psychological characteristics and mobile phone dependence of young people. Loneliness directly contributes to mobile phone addiction and indirectly reinforces dependence through anthropomorphism.When loneliness increases, college students rely more on mobile phones for emotional sustenance and increase unrealistic interactions, thereby facilitating the development of mobile phone addiction. Strong interpersonal relationships mitigate loneliness, reducing both mobile phone anthropomorphism and addiction risk.