Network Analysis of Association Between Problematic Social Network Use and Alexithymia in Freshmen.

Objective: Exploring the core and bridge nodes in problematic social network use and alexithymia among freshmen to provide a basis for understanding the relationship and interventions. Methods: A total of 4057 first-year students from four universities in Shandong Province were chosen and surveyed with the Problematic Mobile Social Media Use Assessment Questionnaire and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Network analysis was performed using R to estimate the connections between nodes. Centrality and predictability indicators were used to identify key nodes, with accuracy and stability validation techniques applied. Gender and residence differences in the network structure were also examined. Results: In the problematic social network use network, the nodes with the highest expected influence were P16 (excessive swiping) and P14 (lack of control over phone usage). In the problematic social network use-alexithymia network, cognitive failure had the highest strength (strength = 1.155) and centrality. Difficulty identifying feelings (bridgestrength = 0.32), externally oriented thoughts (bridgestrength = 0.24), and cognitive failure (bridgestrength = 0.19) were key bridge nodes. No significant differences were found in the network structure across gender and residence, though the network was tightly connected. Conclusion: Cognitive failure plays a central role in problematic social network use among freshmen. Difficulty identifying feelings, externally oriented thoughts, and cognitive failure are critical in linking problematic social network use with alexithymia.