Latent-level relations between DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters and problematic smartphone use.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Mental Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Potentially traumatic events can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and addictive behaviors.
• Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is an emerging addictive behavior, potentially linked to coping with anxiety and PTSD symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between specific Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters and problematic smartphone use (PSU).
• To understand if certain PTSD symptoms are more strongly associated with PSU than others.

Main Methods:

• 347 participants recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk).
• Participants completed validated measures of PTSD and smartphone addiction.
• Statistical analyses (Wald tests) were used to compare the strength of associations between PTSD symptom clusters and PSU.

Main Results:

• Problematic smartphone use (PSU) showed a stronger association with PTSD's negative alterations in cognitions and mood (NACM) compared to the avoidance factor.
• PSU was also more strongly related to PTSD's arousal symptoms than to the avoidance factor.
• Overall, PSU was most associated with negative affect and arousal symptoms in trauma-exposed individuals.

Conclusions:

• Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is significantly linked to specific symptom clusters in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), namely negative alterations in cognitions and mood (NACM) and arousal.
• Clinical assessment of PSU is recommended for trauma-exposed individuals with severe NACM and arousal symptoms.
• Targeting NACM and arousal symptoms may help mitigate problematic smartphone use in this population.