Social media addiction and social anxiety among college students: the serial mediating roles of alienation, self-focused attention, and fear of negative evaluation

Background: Previous studies have established a correlation between social media addiction and social anxiety among college students, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to investigate the serial mediating effects of alienation, self-focused attention, and fear of negative evaluation in the relationship between social media addiction and social anxiety. Methods: A total of 541 college students (mean age = 19.40, SD = 1.30) completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Interaction Anxiousness Scale, the General Alienation Scale, the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and the Self-Focused Attention Questionnaire. Results: The results indicate that alienation, self-focused attention, and fear of negative evaluation serve as serial mediators in the relationship between social media addiction and social anxiety. In other words, these variables sequentially and collectively mediate the effect of social media addiction on social anxiety. Furthermore, the study reveals that the relationship between social media addiction and social anxiety is fully mediated by alienation, self-focused attention, and fear of negative evaluation. Conclusion: The findings suggest that social media addiction is associated with feelings of alienation, which in turn are linked to heightened self-focused attention. Sustained self-focused attention is further associated with increased fear of negative evaluation, which is related to social anxiety. This model illustrates a potential pathway through which these variables are interconnected.