The Effect of Self-Esteem on Mobile Phone Addiction Among College Students: Sequential Mediating Effects of Online Upward Social Comparison and Social Anxiety.
Peng Zhang, Mingliang Wang, Lin Ding, Jinyang Liu, Yuqing Yuan, Jianing Zhang, Shuyuan Feng, Yu Liu
{"title":"The Effect of Self-Esteem on Mobile Phone Addiction Among College Students: Sequential Mediating Effects of Online Upward Social Comparison and Social Anxiety.","authors":"Peng Zhang, Mingliang Wang, Lin Ding, Jinyang Liu, Yuqing Yuan, Jianing Zhang, Shuyuan Feng, Yu Liu","doi":"10.2147/PRBM.S508668","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Mobile phone addiction threatens individuals' physiological, psychological, and social functions, particularly among college students. While existing theories suggest a strong link between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to examine the relationship between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction in Chinese college students, exploring the chain mediation effects of online upward social comparison and social anxiety.</p><p><strong>Participants and methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted using an offline questionnaire survey with 789 Chinese college students, employing convenience sampling in Shaanxi Province, China. Four validated instruments were employed: Self-Esteem Scale, Mobile Phone Addiction Index, Online Upward Social Comparison Scale, and Social Anxiety Scale. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation testing were performed to analyze the data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that self-esteem influences mobile phone addiction through three pathways: (1) self-esteem → online upward social comparison → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.048, -0.010], indicating a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.027, accounting for 14.86% of the total effect); (2) self-esteem → social anxiety → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.182, -0.106], indicating a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.143, accounting for 78.57% of the total effect); (3) self-esteem → online upward social comparison → social anxiety → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.016, -0.003], suggesting a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.009, accounting for 4.95% of the total effect).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings indicate that online upward social comparison and social anxiety serially mediate the relationship between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction. The study reveals how self-esteem contributes to mobile phone addiction among college students and provides insights for prevention and intervention strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":20954,"journal":{"name":"Psychology Research and Behavior Management","volume":"18 ","pages":"657-669"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11929539/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychology Research and Behavior Management","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S508668","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Mobile phone addiction threatens individuals' physiological, psychological, and social functions, particularly among college students. While existing theories suggest a strong link between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to examine the relationship between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction in Chinese college students, exploring the chain mediation effects of online upward social comparison and social anxiety.
Participants and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an offline questionnaire survey with 789 Chinese college students, employing convenience sampling in Shaanxi Province, China. Four validated instruments were employed: Self-Esteem Scale, Mobile Phone Addiction Index, Online Upward Social Comparison Scale, and Social Anxiety Scale. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation testing were performed to analyze the data.
Results: The results showed that self-esteem influences mobile phone addiction through three pathways: (1) self-esteem → online upward social comparison → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.048, -0.010], indicating a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.027, accounting for 14.86% of the total effect); (2) self-esteem → social anxiety → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.182, -0.106], indicating a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.143, accounting for 78.57% of the total effect); (3) self-esteem → online upward social comparison → social anxiety → mobile phone addiction, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.016, -0.003], suggesting a significant mediation effect (effect value = -0.009, accounting for 4.95% of the total effect).
Conclusion: These findings indicate that online upward social comparison and social anxiety serially mediate the relationship between self-esteem and mobile phone addiction. The study reveals how self-esteem contributes to mobile phone addiction among college students and provides insights for prevention and intervention strategies.
期刊介绍：
Psychology Research and Behavior Management is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on the science of psychology and its application in behavior management to develop improved outcomes in the clinical, educational, sports and business arenas. Specific topics covered in the journal include: -Neuroscience, memory and decision making -Behavior modification and management -Clinical applications -Business and sports performance management -Social and developmental studies -Animal studies The journal welcomes submitted papers covering original research, clinical studies, surveys, reviews and evaluations, guidelines, expert opinion and commentary, case reports and extended reports.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
