Relationship between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction among college students： the pathway of alienation
10.11886/scjsws20250320003
- VernacularTitle:社交焦虑与大学生手机成瘾的关系：疏离感的作用路径
- Author:
Huiyu ZHOU
1
;
Siqi XIONG
2
;
Nuo HAN
1
;
Yingshan BAO
3
Author Information
1. School of Humanities and Social Sciences， Heilongjiang University;of Science and Technology， Harbin 150022， China
2. Psychological Counseling Center， Pingshan Middle School， Shenzhen 518118， China
3. Mental Health Education and Counseling Center， Dalian University of Technology， Dalian 116024， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Social anxiety;
Alienation;
Mobile phone addiction;
Mediation analysis;
College students
- From:
Sichuan Mental Health
2025;38(6):541-547
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
BackgroundMobile phone addiction among college students seriously impairs their physical and psychological health and has garnered growing social concern. Although both social anxiety and alienation are closely associated with mobile phone addiction， the mediating role of alienation in the relationship between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction， as well as its various dimensions， remains insufficiently explored. ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of social anxiety on mobile phone addiction and its dimensions among college students， and to examine the mediating role of alienation， thereby providing references for the prevention and intervention in mobile phone addiction in this population. MethodsIn June 2024， a cluster random sampling method was employed to select 850 college students from two universities in Heilongjiang Province. Participants completed the Interaction Anxiousness Scale （IAS）， the Mobile Phone Addiction Index （MPAI）， and the Adolescent Students' Alienation Scale （ASAS）. Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to examine the correlation between the scores on each scale. Mediation analysis examining the role of alienation in the relationship between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction including its dimensions were conducted using model 4 of the process macro version 3.3 in SPSS. ResultsA total of 796 valid questionnaires were recovered， yielding an effective response rate of 93.65%. The IAS total score was positively correlated with MPAI total score and all its subscale scores including loss of control， withdrawal， avoidance， and inefficiency （r=0.303， 0.207， 0.237， 0.208， 0.340， P<0.01）. The ASAS total score also showed positive correlations with the MPAI score and its subscales （r=0.506， 0.394， 0.439， 0.343， 0.470， P<0.01）. Additionally， the IAS total score was positively correlated with ASAS total score （r=0.461， P<0.01）. Alienation played a mediating role between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction as well as its subscales， with indirect effects of 0.215 （95% CI： 0.167–0.266）， 0.189 （95% CI： 0.147–0.239）， 0.161 （95% CI： 0.119–0.206）， 0.145 （95% CI： 0.103–0.191）， and 0.194 （95% CI： 0.149–0.242）， accounting for 76.51%， 82.17%， 87.98%， 74.36%， and 60.25% of the total effects， respectively. ConclusionSocial anxiety among college students not only exerts a direct effect on mobile phone addiction and its dimensions， but also indirectly influences them through the mediating role of alienation. ［Funded by Youth Project of Heilongjiang Province Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Planning （number， 25SHC011）； Teaching Research Project of Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology in 2025 （number， JY25-27）］
