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Partner phubbing and depression among married Chinese adults: The roles of
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 Personality and Individual Differences 110 (2017) 12–17

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Personality and Individual Differences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid

Partner phubbing and depression among married Chinese adults: The

roles of relationship satisfaction and relationship length
Xingchao Wang, Xiaochun Xie, Yuhui Wang, Pengcheng Wang, Li Lei ⁎
The Center of Internet + Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Although relationship satisfaction has been shown to play an important role in married adults' depression, it is
Received 3 December 2016 less clear whether partner phubbing can undermine relationship satisfaction and increase the risk of depression.
Received in revised form 8 January 2017 The current study investigated the indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression via relationship satisfaction
Accepted 9 January 2017
and the moderating role of relationship length in this indirect effect. Two hundred forty-three married Chinese
Available online xxxx
adults participated in the study. The results indicated that partner phubbing had a negative effect on relationship
Keywords:
satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction had a negative effect on depression. Partner phubbing had an indirect
Partner phubbing positive impact on depression via relationship satisfaction, and this indirect effect only existed among those mar-
Relationship satisfaction ried more than seven years. Results indicate that partner phubbing is a significant risk factor for depression
Depression among those married more than seven years.
Relationship length © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders and
affects approximately 350 million people worldwide (Liu et al., 2016).
As in other countries, depression is also a major public health issue in
China, with the prevalence rates ranging from 5.9% to 30.39% in Chinese
adults (Jiang, Li, Chen, & Chen, 2015; Lei, Xiao, Liu, & Li, 2016). Most im-
portantly, depression creates a heavy burden on society. Thus, it is of
theoretical and practical importance to explore those factors that may
contribute to a decrease or increase in depression. According to the mar-
ital discord model of depression (MDMD), marital discord is a signifi-
cant risk factor for depression because marital discord impairs spousal
support and couple cohesion (Beach, Katz, Kim, & Brody, 2003; Beach
& O'Leary, 1993; Miller et al., 2013). Specifically, lower relationship sat-
isfaction and lower marital satisfaction have been associated with
higher concurrent depression and a heightened risk of future depres-
sion (Dekel et al., 2014; Miller et al., 2013; Whisman & Bruce, 1999;
Whisman & Uebelacker, 2009; Whitton & Kuryluk, 2012b). Despite
the robust empirical support for the MDMD (Brock & Lawrence, 2011;
Miller et al., 2013; Proulx, Helms, & Buehler, 2007; Wang, Wang, Li, &
Miller, 2014), it is less clear that those factors (e.g., partner phubbing)
may undermine marital or relationship satisfaction and increase the
risk of depression. Partner phubbing is the extent to which your roman-
tic partner or spouse uses or is distracted by his/her cell phone while in
your company (Roberts & David, 2016). Considering that time spent on
⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, No.
59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China.
E-mail address: dr.leili@qq.com (L. Lei).
phone may displace or reduce meaningful interaction with one's spouse
(Ahlstrom, Lundberg, Zabriskie, Eggett, & Lindsay, 2012), it is possible
that the distractions caused by partner phubbing would undermine re-
lationship satisfaction. Therefore, the current study would examine the
effect of partner phubbing on relationship satisfaction among married
Chinese adults and explore whether partner phubbing could exert sig-
nificant indirect effect on depression via relationship satisfaction.
1.1. Relationship satisfaction and depression
In the previous literature, there are conceptual models and substan-
tial findings for the direction of the relation between marital or relation-
ship satisfaction and depression (Choi, 2016). The MDMD suggests that
marital discord can contribute to an increase in depression for married
adults (Beach & O'Leary, 1993). According to MDMD, individuals who
are in distressed marriages are more likely to have depressive symptom
via two etiological pathways (Choi, 2016; Wang et al., 2014). First, cou-
ples who are distressed by their marital relationships are more prone to
show hostility, which in turn places them at a higher risk for depression.
Second, couples with marital discord are less likely to provide and re-
ceive support and thus they are more prone to being depressed from
other causes (Beach et al., 2003).
Indeed, a great deal of empirical evidence supports the MDMD. Nu-
merous cross-sectional studies have shown a robust correlation be-
tween marital or relationship satisfaction and depression (Dekel et al.,
2014; Levis et al., 2016; McPheters & Sandberg, 2010; Miller et al.,
2013; Wang et al., 2014; Whitton & Kuryluk, 2012a, 2012b; Whitton &
Whisman, 2010). Furthermore, results from longitudinal studies can
shed light on the stability of this relation. Though often debated, there

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.01.014
0191-8869/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 X. Wang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 110 (2017) 12–17
is growing support among researchers for individuals who have high
levels of marital satisfaction are less likely to get depression (Davila,
Karney, Hall, & Bradbury, 2003; Fincham, Beach, Harold, & Osborne,
1997; Kouros, Papp, & Cummings, 2008). Specifically, marital satisfac-
tion can predict higher levels of depressive symptoms at one year
later (Beach et al., 2003), one year and a half later (Fincham et al.,
1997), two years later (Whisman & Uebelacker, 2009), and even seven
years later (Brock & Lawrence, 2011). In addition, one meta-analysis
shows that marital satisfaction is negatively related to depression,
with the effect size of − 0.42 for women and − 0.37 for men
(Whisman, 2001). Another meta-analysis shows that the longitudinal
association between marital quality and personal well-being including
life satisfaction and depression was stronger, when personal well-
being rather than marital quality was treated as the dependent variable
(Proulx et al., 2007).
1.2. Partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction
Considering that life has become a major distraction from our cell
phones, it is of critical importance that increased research attention be
focused on the impact that technology use has on relationship satisfac-
tion (Roberts & David, 2016). According to the displacement hypothesis,
partner phubbing may negatively affect on relationship satisfaction.
This theory suggests that time spent on cell phones may displace or re-
duce meaningful interactions with one's couples, which may in turn un-
dermine their relationship satisfaction. Similarly, cell phone use during
face-to-face interactions makes persons less involved in the conversa-
tion, thereby decreasing the quality of the conversation (Turkle,
2011). One explanation for these negative outcomes may be that cell
phone users risk mishearing things, which may lead to them asking to
repeat or re-discuss information. As a result, the conversation partner
of a cell phone user may feel awkward and find the conversation less
qualitative (Humphreys, 2005).
Some empirical evidence has supported this hypothesis by showing
that certain types of mobile technology use may become problematic in
romantic relationship by increasing conflict and leading to poor rela-
tionship and marital satisfaction (Ahlstrom et al., 2012; Coyne,
Stockdale, Busby, Iverson, & Grant, 2011; McDaniel & Coyne, 2016;
Roberts & David, 2016; Schade, Sandberg, Bean, Busby, & Coyne,
2013). The presence of smartphone during proximal interactions is neg-
atively correlated with perceptions of emphatic concern and closeness
to the conversation partner (Misra, Cheng, Genevie, & Yuan, 2014).
For instance, family members become frustrated when others do non-
urgent activities on their phones in the presence of others (Oduor et
al., 2016), and caretakers who are ‘absorbed’ in their smartphone have
poor social interactions with their children (Radesky et al., 2014). Two
cross-sectional studies have also shown that partner's playing game
and partner phubbing are negatively associated with relationship and
marital satisfaction (Ahlstrom et al., 2012; Roberts & David, 2016). Fur-
thermore, two experimental studies indicate that the presence of mo-
bile phones can interfere with human relationships (Przybylski &
Weinstein, 2013), and mobile messaging behavior during an offline
conversation can lead to more negative impression formation and per-
ceptions of lower interaction quality (Vanden Abeele, Antheunis, &
Schouten, 2016). More specifically, mere presence of cell phones can
undermine perceived closeness, connection, and conversation quality
(Przybylski & Weinstein, 2013). Based on the theory and empirical re-
sults discussed above, sufficient evidence suggests that a partner's use
of a cell phone while in the company of his or her romantic partner
has a negative effect on relationship satisfaction.
1.3. Partner phubbing, relationship satisfaction and depression
Although considerable research has established the negative associ-
ation between relationship satisfaction and depression as well as part-
ner phubbing and relationship satisfaction, much less is known about
13
how partner phubbing increase the risk of depression. To our knowl-
edge, there are only two studies that have tested the effects of partner
phubbing and technoference on depression (McDaniel & Coyne, 2016;
Roberts & David, 2016). Technoference, which is similar to partner
phubbing, is defined as everyday intrusions or interruptions in couple
interactions or time spent together that occur due to technology includ-
ing cell or smart phones (McDaniel & Coyne, 2016). They both found
that partner's frequently engaging in phubbing behaviors or overuse
of technology can directly and significantly affect individual's depres-
sion. However, in relation to the associations among partner phubbing
(or technoference), relationship satisfaction, and depression, these
two studies have not reached an agreement (McDaniel & Coyne, 2016;
Roberts & David, 2016). More specifically, Roberts and David (2016)
found that partner phubbing had an indirect positive impact on individ-
uals' depression through relationship satisfaction and ultimately life sat-
isfaction. In contrast, McDaniel and Coyne (2016) found that
technoference did not indirectly impact depression through its impact
on relationship satisfaction. It is important to note, however, that
there may be one design problem in these two studies. They both ig-
nored the fact that relationship length may moderate the association
among partner phubbing, relationship satisfaction, and depression. As
suggested by Roberts and David (2016), “it may be that some people
are less likely to overuse technology, or frequently engaging in partner
phubbing behaviors, in the early stages of their relationships.” There-
fore, the indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression via relation-
ship satisfaction may only exist among individuals in long-term
marriages (e.g., marriage more than seven years). For instance, hus-
bands in longer term relationships are more vulnerable to depressive
symptoms in the context of marital problems compared with husbands
in shorter term relationships (Kouros et al., 2008).
Based on the above limitations, the aim of the current study was to
examine the indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression via rela-
tionship satisfaction among married Chinese adults. According to the
marrital discort model of depression (Beach et al., 2003), individuals
with high relationshiop dissatisfaction are less likely to receive from
partners and thus they are more prone to being depressed from other
causes, such as partner phubbing and technoference (McDaniel &
Coyne, 2016; Roberts & David, 2016). Therefore, we proposed that part-
ner phubbing would have an indirect positive impact on individual's de-
pression via relationship satisfaction.
1.4. The role of relationship length
Although partner phubbing may impact individual's depression
through the mediating role of relationship satisfaction, not all married
adults who experience partner phubbing or technoference homoge-
neously experience decreased levels of relationship satisfaction and suf-
fer from depression. Heterogeneity of outcomes may originate from
relationship characteristics that moderate (i.e., buffer or exacerbate)
the impact of partner phubbing on relationship satisfaction and depres-
sion, for example, relationship length. Identification of such moderators
would help determine which individuals may be most at risk for rela-
tionship dissatisfaction and depression in the face of partner phubbing.
According to interdependence theory, individual's outcomes are inher-
ently influenced by their partners—what individual does or feels in a re-
lationship can affect her/his partner (Rodriguez, Neighbors, & Knee,
2013). This pattern means that both positive and negative daily experi-
ences may be shared or transmitted in interdependent couples, espe-
cially in longer term couples (Totenhagen, Butler, Curran, & Serido,
2015). As a consequence of interdependence, the behaviors of one
dyad member likely affect the outcomes of the other dyad member in
longer term relationships (McNulty & Karney, 2002; Rodriguez et al.,
2013). However, this effect may be small or does not even exist in
shorter term relationships. Therefore, we expected that individuals in
longer term relationships would be more vulnerable to relationship dis-
satisfaction and depression in the context of partner phubbing
14 X. Wang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 110 (2017) 12–17
compared with individuals in shorter term relationships. This expecta-
tion is supported by some empirical studies. More specifically, relation-
ship length can significantly moderate the relation between marital
satisfaction and depressive symptoms among couples in established re-
lationships as well as relationship satisfaction and depression in emerg-
ing adults (Kouros et al., 2008; Whitton & Kuryluk, 2012b). Similarly,
the length of romantic relationship can moderate the relation between
Facebook use and Facebook-related conflict (Clayton, Nagurney, &
Smith, 2013). To our knowledge, no studies have examined relationship
length as a moderator of the direct and/or indirect relations between
partner phubbing and depression. Based on the interdependence theory
and empirical evidence, we proposed the direct and/or indirect relations
between partner phubbing and depression via relationship satisfaction
would vary as a function of relationship length.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
Data from 243 married adults (156 women) were used in the cur-
rent study. For the total sample, 192 of the married adults came from
urban and 51 came from countryside. Among the adults 42% were of
26–35 years, 32.9% were of 36–45 years, 16.9% were of 46–55 years,
and 8.2% were of 56 years or older. Adults' educational qualifications
were recorded in five categories, with 6.2% having junior high school
or lower level; 11.5% having senior high school; 19.8% having junior
college's degree; 47.7% having bachelor's degree; and 14.8% having
master's degree or higher level.
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Partner phubbing
The Partner Phubbing Scale developed by Roberts and David (2016)
was used to assess participants' partner phubbing. It included nine
items, such as “My partner glances at his/her cell phone when talking
to me.” Items were assessed on a five-point Likert scale ranging from
1 (never) to 5 (all at time). Responses to all items were summed to pro-
duce a composite score, with higher scores indicating higher levels of
partner phubbing. The Cronbach's α was 0.80.
2.2.2. Relationship satisfaction
The four-item satisfaction scale indexed participants' global evalua-
tion of their relationships quality (Murray, Holmes, Griffin, & Derrick,
2015). It includes item such as, “I am extremely satisfied with my rela-
tionship.” Items were assessed on a five-point Likert scale ranging from
1 (not at all) to 5 (completely true). Responses to all items were summed
to produce a composite score, with higher scores indicating higher
levels of relationship satisfaction. The Cronbach's α was 0.86.
2.2.3. Depression
The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale was used to
assess depression, which consists of 20 items. Example item is, “I
thought my life had been a failure.” Items were assessed on a four-
point Likert scale ranging from 0 (rarely or none of the time) to 3 (most
or all of the times) and were summed to produce a composite score.
The Cronbach's α was 0.91.
2.2.4. Relationship length
Considering that currently half of all divorces occur within the first
seven years of marriage (Amato & Cheadle, 2005), relationship length
was assessed via a self-reported single-item with the following two op-
tions: 1 = seven years or less and 2 = eight years or over. Based on the
self-reported length of the marriage, 51% adults married less than
seven years.
2.3. Procedure
Ethical approval was gained from the first authors' University Ethics
Committee. Participants filled out online questionnaires regarding part-
ner phubbing, relationship satisfaction, depression, and demographics
variables through http://www.sojump.com/. This hyperlink was distrib-
uted through WeChat, email, and online forums. Only those who com-
pleted the consent form were gained access to the questionnaires. This
method has been used successfully by other studies collecting data on-
line (Kong, Wang, & Zhao, 2014; Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012; Meyerson &
Tryon, 2003).
3. Results
3.1. Bivariate analyses
Means, standard deviations, and correlations for all variables are
presented in Table 1. Partner phubbing was negatively correlated with
relationship satisfaction, and positively correlated with depression. Re-
lationship satisfaction was negatively correlated with depression.
3.2. Measurement model
Before testing the structural model, we confirmed the factor struc-
ture of the model. The measurement model included three latent factors
including partner phubbing, relationship satisfaction, and depression.
An initial test of the measurement model revealed a satisfactory fit to
the data: χ2 (62, N = 243) = 152.17, p b 0.001; RMSEA = 0.078; and
CFI = 0.95. All the factor loadings for the indicators on the latent vari-
ables were high and reliable (p b 0.001), and indicating that all the la-
tent factors were well represented by their respective indicators.
3.3. Structural model
Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the medi-
ating role of relationship satisfaction. The direct path coefficient from
partner phubbing to depression (γ = 0.20, p b 0.01) in the absence of
the mediator was significant. A partially-mediated model with a medi-
ator and a direct path from partner phubbing to depression revealed
an adequate fit to the data: χ2 (62, N = 243) = 152.17, p b 0.001;
RMSEA = 0.078; and CFI = 0.95. That is, relationship satisfaction par-
tially mediated the relationship between partner phubbing and depres-
sion (see Fig. 1). As shown in Fig. 1, partner phubbing significantly and
negatively predicted relationship satisfaction (γ = − 0.15, p b 0.05),
and relationship satisfaction significantly and negatively predicted de-
pression (γ = −0.25, p b 0.001).
In order to assess the size of the indirect effect and confidence inter-
vals (CI), a bootstrap procedure was applied. We generated 1000
bootstrapping samples from the original data set (N = 243) by random
sampling. The indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression mediat-
ed by relationship satisfaction was 0.038 (SE = 0.029, CI = [0.004,
0.103]). Empirical 95% confidence interval did not consist of zero, signi-
fying partner phubbing exerted significant indirect effect on depression
via relationship satisfaction.
3.4. The role of relationship length
We used multi-group analyses to identify whether the path coeffi-
cients differed significantly across relationship length. We compared
the first model, which allows the structural paths to vary across rela-
tionship length, with the second model, which constrains the structural
paths across relationship length to be equal, to examine relationship
length differences. The non-significant Chi square differences between
the two models, Δχ2 (3, N = 243) = 5.51, p = 0.14. However, relation-
ship length may moderate certain pathways in the partially-mediated
model. Therefore, two models were fitted to examine possible
 X. Wang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 110 (2017) 12–17
Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlations among variables of interest.
M SD Relationship Partner Relationship
lengtha phubbing satisfaction
Partner 28.45 6.38 −0.05 1 ating role of relationship length in this indirect effect. Findings indicate
phubbing
Relationship 11.77 2.23 −0.11 −0.13⁎ 1 via relationship satisfaction among married Chinese adults. However,
satisfaction
Depression 14.62 9.66 −0.03 0.13⁎ −0.36⁎⁎⁎
⁎ p b 0.05.
⁎⁎⁎ p b 0.001.
a
Relationship length 1 = marriage more than seven years, 0 = marriage less than
seven years.
relationship length differences in relation between partner phubbing
and relationship satisfaction. The first constrained the path coefficients
from partner phubbing to relationship satisfaction to be equal across re-
lationship length, whereas the second was fitted with that path param-
eter estimated freely. The significant Chi square differences between the
two models, Δχ2 (1) = 4.62, p = 0.032, indicating that relationship
length significantly moderated the relation between partner phubbing
and relationship satisfaction. However, the results further showed that
relationship length did not moderate the link between partner
phubbing and depression as well as relationship satisfaction. More spe-
cifically, the path coefficient from partner phubbing to relationship sat-
isfaction for those married more than seven years was significant
(γ = −0.30, p b 0.05), but the coefficient for those married less than
seven years was non-significant (γ = 0.001, p N 0.05). The indirect effect
of partner phubbing on depression via relationship satisfaction for those
married more than seven years was 0.055 (SE = 0.050, CI = [0.007,
0.189]), and empirical 95% confidence interval did not consist of zero.
In contrast, the indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression via re-
lationship satisfaction for those married less than seven years was 0.000
(SE = 0.039, CI = [−0.055, 0.071]), and empirical 95% confidence inter-
val consisted of zero. This showed that partner phubbing had a signifi-
cant indirect positive impact on depression via relationship
satisfaction only among those married more than seven years.
4. Discussion
The effect of relationship satisfaction on depression among married
adults has garnered considerable empirical support (Davila et al., 2003;
Fincham et al., 1997; Kouros et al., 2008). However, it is less clear that
those factors may undermine relationship satisfaction and increase
the risk of depression. Based on the integration of existing theories
.88***
PP1
.68***
PP2 .72*** Partner
Phubbing
PP3 .82***
.68***
PP4
Fig. 1. The mediating effect of relationship satisfaction. Note. Factor loading are standardized. PP1-PP4 = four parcels of partner phubbing; RS1-RS4 = four items of relationship
satisfaction; D1-D5 = five parcels of depression. *p b 0.05;***p b 0.001.
15
including the MDMD, the displacement hypothesis, and the interdepen-
dence theory, the current study contributes to the literature by examin-
Depression ing the indirect effect of partner phubbing on depression via
relationship satisfaction among married Chinese adults and the moder-
that partner phubbing can exert significant indirect effect on depression
this indirect link only exists among those married more than seven
1
years. We discuss each of our research questions in light of the indirect
effect of partner phubbing on depression via relationship satisfaction.
First, consistent with our hypothesis, the results showed that partner
phubbing is an important factor that can undermine relationship satis-
faction and increase the risk of depression via relationship satisfaction.
That is, individuals are more likely to experiences relationship dissatis-
faction when in the face of partner phubbing, which in turn can contrib-
ute to an increase in depression for married adults. This is congruent
with the MDMD (Beach & O'Leary, 1993), as well as the previous re-
search which showed that relationship satisfaction can significantly
predict depression at one year to seven years later (Beach et al., 2003;
Brock & Lawrence, 2011; Fincham et al., 1997; Whisman, 2001;
Whisman & Uebelacker, 2009). Our findings support the validity of the
MDMD and the previous studies in China (Miller et al., 2013; Wang et
al., 2014). However, it is important to note that these two studies only
examined the relation between marital satisfaction and depression
(Miller et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2014). Unlike these two studies, our ex-
tends existing research by examining whether partner phubbing could
undermine relationship satisfaction and increase the risk of depression,
and indicates that partner phubbing can undermine relationship satis-
faction and exert significant indirect effect on depression via relation-
ship satisfaction.
Second, our finding confirmed the moderating role of relationship
satisfaction in the indirect relation between partner phubbing and de-
pression. Particularly, we found that partner phubbing had a significant
indirect positive impact on depression via relationship satisfaction only
among those married more than seven years. As far as we are aware, our
study is the first that report such result in the literature. This finding
provides support to the interdependence theory, which posits that the
behaviors of one dyad member likely affect the outcomes of the other
dyad member in longer term relationships due to interdependence
(McNulty & Karney, 2002; Rodriguez et al., 2013). That is, adults who
married more than seven years are more vulnerable to relationship dis-
satisfaction and depression in the context of partner phubbing com-
pared with adults who married less than seven years. This
identification can help determine which adults are most at risk for rela-
tionship dissatisfaction and depression in the face of partner phubbing.
RS1 RS2 RS3 RS4
.93*** .82*** .54***
Relationship
Satisfaction D1
.92***
-.15* -.25*** D2
.93***
.16* Depression .84*** D3
.74***
D4
.46***
D5
16 X. Wang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 110 (2017) 12–17
It is important to note that two studies have explore the relations
among partner phubbing (or technoference), relationship satisfaction,
and depression, but they didn't reach an agreement (McDaniel &
Coyne, 2016; Roberts & David, 2016). It is possible that these two stud-
ies both ignored some marital or individual characteristics, such as rela-
tionship commitment and marital status, which may moderate the
impact of partner phubbing on relationship satisfaction and depression.
Although the current study extends existing research by testing the
moderating effect of relationship length, this is clearly an area that
needs further exploration.
Several important limitations should be addressed. First, this research
was cross-sectional in design. Consequently, readers should be cautious
about causal inferences. Second, the majority of the sample was female,
which might affect the validity of the current study. Third, this research
only examined the effect of partner phubbing and relationship satisfac-
tion on one's own depression. However, a spouse's marital distress can
create less support and more hostility in their relationship, which puts
the other spouse at increased risk to experience depression. Thus, further
study should explore the actor–partner effect of phubbing and relation-
ship satisfaction on depression. Fourth, considering that currently half of
all divorces occur within the first seven years of marriage (Amato &
Cheadle, 2005), relationship length was recorded as a categorical variable,
but not a continuous variable. Further study can investigate relationship
length as a continuous variable. Finally, although collecting data online
is (1) reliable, (2) valid, (3) reasonably representative, (4) cost effective,
and (5) efficient (Meyerson & Tryon, 2003), it may be limited with regard
to generalization as a convenience sample.
Despite limitations, the current study has several theoretical and
practical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it provides an
empirical framework for the researchers through testing the indirect ef-
fect of partner phubbing on depression and the moderating effect of re-
lationship length. This result can shed light on the underlying
mechanism between partner phubbing and depression and expand pre-
vious literature. From a practical perspective, our findings may help to
design effective psychological interventions to prevent and reduce mar-
ried adults' depression. Given the indirect of partner phubbing on de-
pression via relationship, interventions should development strategies
to improve married adults' relationship satisfaction in the face of part-
ner phubbing, such as, stop phubbing programs and couple therapy.
Moreover, the current study finds that adults married more than
seven years are most at risk for relationship dissatisfaction and depres-
sion in the face of partner phubbing. This can help to design effective in-
terventions to prevent depression.
Acknowledgement
The present study was supported by the Outstanding Innovative Tal-
ents Cultivation Funded Programs 2016 of Renmin University of China.
There is no financial interest.
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