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Primary school children are in a critical period of growth, and childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) can have a tremendous negative impact, leading to smartphone addiction (SPA). Considering developmental trajectories has significant implications for understanding the relationship between CEM and SPA. This study was conducted with 208 Chinese primary school children to investigate the developmental trajectories of SPA and CEM during children's development, the relationship between the two developmental trajectories, and the influence of gender on the two developmental trajectories through a three-year, three-wave longitudinal study. The study found a linear increase with age in both SPA and CEM in primary school children. Further, the initial level of SPA was significantly higher in boys than girls. Finally, the developmental trajectory of CEM positively predicted the developmental trajectory of SPA. This study contributes to understanding the developmental trajectory of SPA and CEM in the child population. It provides theoretical support and practical guidance for preventing and intervening SPA in children from the perspective of the family environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common for adolescents to feel lonely, and many previous studies have already found that loneliness is closely related to smartphone addiction (SPA). However, whether smartphone addiction leads to loneliness or loneliness leads to smartphone addiction, there is a lack of strong empirical research support. Therefore, based on the compensatory internet use theory and the digital goldilocks hypothesis, this study explored the causal and correlational relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction by using a longitudinal study and a weekly diary method at the trait and state level. In the first study, 906 adolescents (Mage = 11.20, SDage = 1.65, 51% females) were recruited to participate in the 1-year longitudinal study, and a cross-lagged model of loneliness and smartphone addiction was constructed to explore the causal relationship between them. In the second study, 117 adolescents (Mage = 15.44, SDage = 0.53, 66% females) were measured 7 times by the weekly diary method; the correlational relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction was explored by building a hierarchical linear model (HLM). The results showed that: (1) trait loneliness positively predicted smartphone addiction among adolescents; (2) smartphone addiction could not predict loneliness; (3) loneliness positively affected smartphone addiction at the state level; (4) smartphone addiction also positively affected the weekly loneliness at the state level. This study revealed the causal relationship between trait loneliness and smartphone addiction and the relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction at the state level. The present study also expands the understanding of the causal relationship between smartphone addiction and loneliness from two theoretical perspectives, and it also has practical significance for preventing the phenomenon of smartphone addiction among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]