Exploring the role of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance in predicting smartphone use among medical university students

We investigated the role of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance in the relationship between stress and smartphone use. A total of 725 medical students completed self-reported questionnaires that consisted of the Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II. The total and all subscale scores for smartphone use were positively correlated with stress, cognitive fusion, and experiential avoidance. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that adding the two variables, namely, cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance, accounted for an additional 10% of the variance in smartphone use. However, only cognitive fusion was a significant predictor. Moreover, cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance individually played a mediating role in the relationship between stress and smartphone use. These findings suggest that the ACT may be an excellent paradigm to advance our understanding of smartphone addiction and the authorities in medical schools should consider intervention strategies of ACT, particularly mindfulness and cognitive defusion, for medical students with smartphone overuse.