Zhang Peng, Wang Mingliang, Ding Lin, Liu Jinyang, Yuan Yuqing, Zhang Jianing, Feng Shuyuan, Liu Yu
Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, People's Republic of China.
College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2025 Mar 18;18:657-669. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S508668. eCollection 2025.
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.
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.
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).
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.
手机成瘾会威胁个体的生理、心理和社会功能，在大学生中尤为如此。虽然现有理论表明自尊与手机成瘾之间存在紧密联系，但其潜在机制仍不明确。本研究旨在探讨中国大学生自尊与手机成瘾之间的关系，探究网络向上社会比较和社交焦虑的链式中介作用。
采用线下问卷调查对789名中国大学生进行横断面研究，在中国陕西省采用便利抽样法。使用了四种经过验证的工具：自尊量表、手机成瘾指数、网络向上社会比较量表和社交焦虑量表。进行描述性分析、相关性分析和中介检验以分析数据。
结果表明，自尊通过三条途径影响手机成瘾：（1）自尊→网络向上社会比较→手机成瘾，95%置信区间为[-0.048, -0.010]，表明存在显著中介效应（效应值 = -0.027，占总效应的14.86%）；（2）自尊→社交焦虑→手机成瘾，95%置信区间为[-0.182, -0.106]，表明存在显著中介效应（效应值 = -0.143，占总效应的78.57%）；（3）自尊→网络向上社会比较→社交焦虑→手机成瘾，95%置信区间为[-0.016, -0.003]，表明存在显著中介效应（效应值 = -0.009，占总效应的4.95%）。
这些发现表明，网络向上社会比较和社交焦虑依次中介了自尊与手机成瘾之间的关系。该研究揭示了自尊如何导致大学生手机成瘾，并为预防和干预策略提供了见解。
