Investigating the mediating roles of psychological resilience and digital addiction in the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health: a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach

English (OpenAlex)

Introduction: Research shows that university students are increasingly becoming more prone to digital addiction, leading to serious mental health problems. Emotional intelligence and psychological resilience, on the other hand, are considered to play a role in their likelihood of experiencing digital addiction and mental health problems. Studies investigating the interrelationships between these constructs are rare despite their growing significance in the contemporary digital world. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the dual and multiple relationships between these variables by testing a hypothetical research model. Method: This study uses meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) analysis to test the structural relationships in the study model. The study also tests some alternative models regarding the relationships among the study variables to offer a more nuanced understanding. Data for the study were collected step-wise from Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and Google Scholar. Data analysis was conducted using correlation coefficients gathered from 257 studies included in the dataset. Results: By quantitatively synthesizing results from 257 studies, the study showed that university students' emotional intelligence can be associated with mental health problems both directly and indirectly through digital addiction and psychological resilience. Discussion: By testing an integrated model of emotional, psychological, and behavioral factors within a single exploratory framework, the study provided a more comprehensive account of mental health functioning among university students and suggested important implications for promoting university students' mental health.