Depressive symptoms precede and drive problematic smartphone use in Chinese medical students: a longitudinal network analysis

Background Depression and problematic smartphone use (PSU) frequently co-occur in Chinese medical students and are increasingly attracting significant attention. Although the link between PSU and depression is well recognized, patterns of longitudinal dynamic associations at the symptom level remain poorly understood, particularly in the context of Chinese medical students. Methods A total of 584 medical graduate students (mean age = 30.47 years, SD = 3.57; 65.2% males) completed the Smartphone