The Impact of Social Anxiety and Loneliness on Problematic Social Media Use: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Cognition
Keywords:
Social Anxiety, Loneliness, Problematic Social Media Use, Maladaptive CognitionAbstract
Given the accelerated growth of social media, problematic social media use has emerged as a research hotspot in the field of psychology, especially among university students. The objective of this investigation is to explore the influence mechanism of social anxiety and loneliness on problematic social media use, and focuses on examining the mediating role of maladaptive cognition in this process. Based on the data analysis of 463 Chinese college students, this study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) for verification. The results show that both social anxiety and loneliness significantly and positively predict problematic social media use, while maladaptive cognition plays a partial mediating role in this process. This finding not only reveals the potential psychological mechanism of problematic social media use but also highlights the key role of maladaptive cognition, providing new theoretical basis and practical implications for the innovative education and management intervention of problematic social media use.
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