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Problematic Smartphone Use Among Adolescent Girls: Dark Triad Traits and the Mediating Role of Loneliness

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Purpose: This study examined the direct and indirect associations of the Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) with problematic smartphone use (PSU) through loneliness among adolescent girls. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional correlational study included 479 girls in Grades 10–12 (mean age = 16.47, SD = 0.78), convenience-sampled from four regular public girls’ upper-secondary schools across four districts of Tehran, Iran, in 2025–2026. Participants completed Persian forms of the Dirty Dozen, UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3, and Smartphone Addiction Scale–Short Version. Item-level confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) used weighted least squares mean- and variance-adjusted (WLSMV) estimation; indirect effects were assessed with 5,000-resample percentile bootstrapping in an auxiliary diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) model. Findings: Psychopathy was positively and narcissism negatively associated with loneliness, whereas Machiavellianism was not. Loneliness, Machiavellianism, and narcissism were positively associated with PSU, but the direct psychopathy path was nonsignificant. Only psychopathy showed a significant indirect association with PSU through loneliness (β = 0.076, 95% bootstrap CI [0.037, 0.176]); its total association was nonsignificant. Full mediation fit worse than partial mediation (Δχ²(3) = 155.45, p < 0.001), whereas removing the direct psychopathy–PSU path did not worsen fit (Δχ²(1) = 0.47, p = 0.494). Conclusion: Findings indicate trait-specific associations between Dark Triad traits and PSU among adolescent girls. Loneliness may represent a psychopathy-specific statistical pathway, supporting trait-level examination of personality-related associations with PSU.

Source: International Journal of Education and Cognitive Sciences

Authors: Jamali, Ramin, Pirani, Zabih, Davoodi, Hosein, Abbasi, Mohammad

Institutions: Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Islamic Azad University, Arak

Language: English

Topic: Impact of Technology on Adolescents

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

OpenAlex ID: W7223076678

FWCI:

Cites: 74

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Related to: 10