The Relationship Between Ostracism and Mental Health Issues Among College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Rumination and Smartphone Addiction

Mental health issues, particularly symptoms of anxiety and depression, have become increasingly prominent among college students, with negative experiences such as ostracism identified as important correlates. However, the potential pathways linking ostracism to mental health issues remain to be further explored. By incorporating rumination and smartphone addiction, this study aimed to examine the associations among ostracism, rumination, smartphone addiction, and mental health issues in college students. A cross-sectional, self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted among 632 college students, measuring these four variables simultaneously. Correlation analyses and mediation analyses using a chain mediation model with bootstrap estimation were employed to examine the relationships among these variables. The results revealed significant positive associations among ostracism, rumination, smartphone addiction, and mental health issues. Further analyses indicated that rumination and smartphone addiction played a chain mediating role between ostracism and mental health issues. The bootstrap confidence intervals confirmed the significance of the indirect effects, which accounted for 32.62% of the total effect. These findings provide insight into the interrelationships among ostracism, rumination, smartphone addiction, and mental health issues in college students, contributing to a better understanding of factors related to mental health issues in this population and offering a reference for future research and potential intervention development in college settings.