The perceived stress of Chinese university students and its relationship with smartphone overdependence: The mediating effect of social anxiety and the moderated mediating effect of self-resilience

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of social anxiety and the moderated mediating effect of self-resilience in the relationship between perceived stress and smartphone overdependence among Chinese college students. Methods An online survey was conducted with 524 Chinese college students as the research subjects from June to August 2023. The collected data were verified for mediation and adjusted mediation effects using SPSS 26.0 and Process Macro Model 4. Results The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, social anxiety was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between perceived stress and smartphone overdependence. Second, self-resilience was found to play a moderating mediating role in the relationship between perceived stress, social anxiety, and smartphone overdependence. Conclusions Through this study, we expect to confirm the impact of perceived stress and smartphone overdependence on social anxiety and self-resilience and provide appropriate implications for intervention in smartphone overdependence among Chinese college students. The purposes of this study were to specify variables related to convergence competency, and to analyze the structural relationships among them. The purposes of this study were to specify variables related to convergence competency, and to analyze the structural relationships among them.