{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T06:08:20Z","timestamp":1788761300963,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Boredom proneness is a relatively stable dispositional vulnerability associated with adolescents\u2019 problematic social media use (PSMU). However, it remains unclear whether this association reflects stable between-person differences, within-person temporal dynamics, or both. This study examined the reciprocal longitudinal associations between boredom proneness and PSMU among Chinese adolescents.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Four-wave data were collected from 2020 to 2022 from 2,163 adolescents aged 12\u201319 years at baseline (mean age = 14.54 years, SD = 1.49; 47.4% female) attending four secondary schools in Guangzhou, China. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to separate stable between-person differences from occasion-specific within-person deviations while controlling for gender, age, paternal education, and maternal education. Ethical approval and written informed consent were obtained.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>At the between-person level, the stable components of boredom proneness and PSMU were positively associated (B = 0.195, p &amp;lt; 0.001). At the within-person level, an asymmetric prospective pattern emerged. Higher-than-expected boredom-proneness scores predicted higher-than-expected PSMU only from T1 to T2 (B = 0.073, p &amp;lt; 0.05), whereas higher-than-expected PSMU consistently predicted higher-than-expected boredom-proneness scores across all three adjacent intervals (B = 0.074, 0.108, and 0.103; all p &amp;lt; 0.05). Both constructs also showed significant autoregressive effects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The association between boredom proneness and PSMU comprised both stable between-person co-occurrence and asymmetric within-person temporal dynamics. PSMU consistently preceded subsequent elevations in boredom-proneness scores, whereas the reverse pathway was interval-specific. These findings do not establish causality or indicate that PSMU causes momentary state boredom or enduring personality change. They may help inform time-sensitive prevention and support strategies by distinguishing stable vulnerability from occasion-specific variation. Because all waves occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, replication in post-pandemic cohorts is needed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1925655","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T05:34:32Z","timestamp":1788759272000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Reciprocal relationship between boredom proneness and problematic social media use among Chinese adolescents: a random intercept cross-lagged panel model"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Su-Ting","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education Science, Nanning Normal University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fu-Ming","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education Science, Nanning Normal 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