Open Access

ARTICLE

Social Support, Quality of Life, and Depression Predict Two Types of Problematic Digital Use among Prenatal Women

Po-Ching Huang^1,#, Chao-Ying Chen^2,3,#, Hsing-Fen Tu^4,5,6, Jung-Sheng Chen⁷, Kuan-Yu Chen⁸, Yun-Hsuan Chang^9,10,11,12, Yun-Hsiang Hung^13,*, Mark D. Griffiths¹⁴, Chung-Ying Lin^{15,16,17,18,*}
1 Department of Physiotherapy, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 School of Physical Therapy, Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
3 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan
4 Department of Applied Educational Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
5 Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
6 Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
7 Department of Medical Research, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
8 Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
9 Institute of Gerontology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
10 Institute of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
11 Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
12 Graduate Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
13 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
14 Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
15 Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
16 Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
17 Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
18 School of Nursing, College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
* Corresponding Author: Yun-Hsiang Hung. Email: ; Chung-Ying Lin. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.083235

Received 31 March 2026; Accepted 21 May 2026; Published online 15 June 2026

Abstract

Background: Problematic digital use has been strongly associated with psychological disturbance, but it is less researched among highly distressed populations such as prenatal mothers. The present study longitudinally explored the predictors of problematic smartphone use (PSPU) and problematic social media use (PSMU) among prenatal mothers to inform the development of preventive strategies. Methods: Participants comprised 137 prenatal mothers (mean age = 31.89 years, SD = 4.29), with approximately half of them having their first baby (50.4%). The level of social support, quality of life (QoL), and psychological factors (including stress, anxiety, and depression), were collected at Timepoint 1 of the second trimester, while the severity of PSPU and PSMU was collected at Timepoint 2 of the third trimester. Factors were entered into a hierarchical regression model for analysis, with Model 1 adding age and parity as covariates, Model 2 adding social support and QoL, and Model 3 adding psychological factors. Results: In predicting PSPU, only Model 2 was significant (R² = 0.109, F = 7.953, p < 0.001), with lower social support and QoL (standardized coefficient [β] = −0.201, p = 0.026 and −0.193, p = 0.033) predicting higher PSPU. In predicting PSMU, only Model 3 was significant (R² = 0.118, F = 3.631, p = 0.021), with higher depression (β = 0.321, p = 0.018) predicting higher PSMU. Conclusions: The findings suggest that among prenatal mothers, low social support and QoL may predict PSPU, while depressive symptoms may predict PSMU. The results inform strategies targeting maternal needs at the early stage of pregnancy to prevent the development of problematic digital use. Future studies may focus on the temporal changes of maternal problematic digital use from prenatal to postnatal, or follow-up examining its influence on parenting or child development to construct a more comprehensive understanding of these behaviors.

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Keywords

Problematic social media use; problematic smartphone use; social support; quality of life; depression

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