Mobile phone addiction and psychological symptoms among college students: The mediating role aggression and the moderating role of self-control

This dataset contains cross-sectional survey data collected from 925 Chinese college students examining the relationships between mobile phone addiction, aggression, self-control, and psychological symptoms. Data were collected in April 2024 through an online survey system accessible via computers, iPads, and smartphones. Participants were recruited from humanities disciplines (Chinese Language and Literature, Radio and Television Studies, and related fields) at a university in western China. The sample comprised students across different educational levels: 668 bachelor's degree students (72.22%), 160 associate-to-bachelor transfer students (17.30%), and 97 master's students (10.49%), all in their first or second years of study. The dataset includes responses to four validated psychological instruments: the 17-item Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale (MPAIS), the 22-item Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), the 19-item Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the 90-item Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Additionally, comprehensive demographic information was collected, including age, gender, educational level, family income, parental education levels, and family structure variables. All responses were recorded on 5-point Likert scales with appropriate reverse coding applied where necessary. The tabular dataset contains 925 rows (individual participants) and approximately 170 columns representing survey items, computed subscale scores, total scores, and demographic variables. Missing data analysis revealed less than 5% missing values distributed completely at random, with 25 incomplete responses excluded from the final dataset. Data are stored in SPSS (.sav) format and CSV format for broader accessibility. The dataset enables replication of the reported moderated mediation analyses using PROCESS macro Model 14, as well as network analyses examining symptom-level interactions. All data have been de-identified to protect participant confidentiality while maintaining the integrity necessary for secondary analyses exploring digital technology use and mental health relationships among emerging adults.