The Effect Of Parental Phubbing On Loneliness In Junior Middle School Students: The Mediating Role Of Rejection Sensitivity

The age development of loneliness shows a U-shaped trajectory,which is most common in adolescents.Adolescents are in an important period of life transition,the loneliness they experience can become a burden on their growth,and long-term burden may increase the risk of physical diseases or psychological problems.Therefore,the issue of loneliness among teenagers is very noteworthy.Parents,as the main guardians of adolescents,their phubbing behavior can have a significant impact on teenagers’ sense of loneliness.However,it is not clear how parental phubbing affects the loneliness of junior middle school students,and what the influencing mechanism is,it is necessary to conduct in-depth exploration.Based on this,this study will start from the perspective of rejection sensitivity and explore the role of rejection sensitivity in the influence of parental phubbing on loneliness among middle school students through two studies.The first study was designed to investigate the role of rejection sensitivity in the influence of parental phubbing on junior middle school students’ loneliness,and is divided into two sub-studies.Study 1a uses the Cyberball paradigm to induce individual rejection sensitivity,in order to examine the relationship between high and low parental phubbing and rejection sensitivity of junior middle school students.In study 1a,98 subjects were selected,the scores of parental phubbing were sorted and divided into high and low groups,and the differences in rejection sensitivity scores between the two groups were compared after the acceptance and rejection condition tasks.The results showed that the rejection sensitivity score of parents with high phubbing behavior was significantly higher than that of parents with low phubbing behavior.The group with high phubbing behavior had significantly lower rejection sensitivity scores after acceptance conditions than after rejection conditions.There was no significant difference in the scores of rejection sensitivity after acceptance condition and rejection condition between parents with low phubbing.In study 1b,rejection sensitivity was enhanced by using the Cyberball paradigm to induce individual rejection sensitivity,and the impact of rejection sensitivity on loneliness of junior middle school students was investigated.128 subjects were selected and randomly divided into acceptance group and exclusion group to complete the acceptance or exclusion task,and compare the differences in loneliness scores of the subjects after acceptance or exclusion task.The results showed that the score of loneliness after acceptance condition was significantly lower than that after rejection condition.Rejection can enhance the rejection sensitivity of individuals,so rejection sensitivity can enhance the loneliness of junior middle school students.Study 1 explores the relationship between parental phubbing and rejection sensitivity,as well as rejection sensitivity and loneliness.Study 2,based on study 1,examines whether rejection sensitivity plays a mediating role in the influence of parents’ phubbing behavior on junior middle school students’ loneliness.700 subjects from a middle school were selected as the research objects,with 656 valid data.SPSS was used to analyze the data.The results show that rejection sensitivity plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between parental phubbing and junior middle school students’ loneliness,and the mediating effect is significant.In summary,this study clarified the relationship between parental phubbing and junior middle school students’ loneliness and its mechanism,providing certain reference value for future intervention and prevention of loneliness.The conclusion of this study is as follows: parental phubbing can enhance junior middle school students’ rejection sensitivity(study 1a);Rejection sensitivity can enhance loneliness of junior middle school students(study 1b);parental phubbing can directly enhance junior middle school students’ loneliness experience,and can also indirectly enhance junior middle school students’ loneliness through rejection sensitivity(study 2).