ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicLoneliness Among Youth and Young AdultsView all 6 articles
The role of Loneliness and Self-Concept Clarity in the relationship between Problematic Mobile Social Network Usage and Social Anxiety among college students
Provisionally accepted
- Zhejiang Agricultural Business College, Shaoxing, China
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Background: Previous studies demonstrated a correlation between problematic mobile social network usage and social anxiety among college students, but the mechanisms of the relationship have not been fully understood. Objective: The present study aims to examine the mediating role of loneliness and the moderating effect of self-concept clarity in the relationship between problematic mobile social network usage and social anxiety among college students. Methods: A total of 1,021 college students (mean age = 18.06, SD = 0.26) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Interaction Anxiousness Scale, Problematic Mobile Social Network Usage Scale, and Self-concept Clarity Scale. Results: Results confirmed that problematic mobile social network usage significantly predicts social anxiety. Loneliness mediated this relationship, and self-concept clarity significantly moderated the mediation process. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of addressing problematic mobile social network usage and loneliness in interventions aimed at reducing social anxiety among college students.
Keywords: Problematic mobile social network usage, social anxiety, Loneliness, self-concept clarity, college students
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fang, Xu and Yang. 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: Xiaoyu Xu
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