ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1536116
This article is part of the Research TopicImplementing Mental Health Prevention and Promotion Programs: A Sustainable Approach - Volume IIView all 17 articles
The Relationship between Online Risk Exposure and Depression among College Students: The Multiple Mediating Effects of Emotional Security and Suppress Happiness
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
- 2Northwest University, Xi'an, China
- 3Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an, China
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The relationship between online risk exposure and depression among college students has aroused great attention in academic and educational circles. This study constructs a structural equation model to examine the role of emotional security and Suppress Happiness in the relationship between online risk exposure and depression among college students. A total of 986 Chinese college students (M = 19.74 years old, 64.6% female) participated in an online survey on online risk exposure scale, emotional security questionnaire, Suppress Happiness scale and depression scale. The results show that online risk exposure can not only directly trigger depression among college students, but also indirectly induce depression by enhancing emotional insecurity and Suppress Happiness, along with their chain-mediated effects. This study provides the theoretical basis and practical guidance for college students in the Internet era to reduce online risk exposure, prevent and treat depression.
Keywords: Online risk exposure, Emotional security, Suppress Happiness, Depression, college students
Received: 28 Nov 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhang, Feng, Li, Jiang and Yi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xinfa Yi, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, Shaanxi Province, China
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