ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025
Network analysis of the association between social anxiety and problematic smartphone use in college students.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The role of parental attachment, cyberbullying victimization, and resilience in the effect of adverse childhood experiences on social anxiety among college students: a moderated chain mediation model.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Intolerance of Uncertainty Mediates the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Problematic Smartphone Use Severity in College Students.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Article
- Comorbidity Network of Self-Stigma, Insomnia, and Mental Health in Chronic Disease Patients: A Network Analysis.Psychology research and behavior management · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Social anxiety (SA) and problematic smartphone use (PSU) have become increasingly common among college students in recent decades, with research indicating a mutual increase in risk. This study aim to deepen the understanding of how SA and PSU are interconnected at the symptom-level within this demographic using network analysis. Methods: We recruited 1,197 college students from four institutions in Shaanxi Province, China. Symptoms of SA and PSU were assessed through self-report questionnaires. A regularized Gaussian graphical model was used to estimate the relationships between these symptoms. We calculated Bridge Expected Influence (BEI) to identify key symptoms contributing to their co-occurrence. Additionally, a network comparison test was conducted to examine potential gender differences in the BEI values of the SA-PSU network. Results: Distinct relationships were observed between SA and PSU symptoms. Notably, the connections between 'Get embarrassed very easily' (SA3) and 'shyness in new situations' (PSU1), as well as between SA3 and 'Escape or relieve negative moods' (PSU8), showed the strongest inter-construct connections. SA3 and PSU8 were identified as the key symptoms contributing to the co-occurrence, with the highest BEI. Network comparison tests between males and females revealed no significant differences in global expected influence, between-community edges weights, and BEI. Conclusion: The key bridging symptoms this study identified supports the existing theories about the co-occurrence of SA and PSU, and contributes to understanding the underlying mechanisms. Our findings suggest that interventions targeting negative emotions in daily interactions could be effective in reducing PSU.
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