负面评价恐惧与大学生网络过度使用的关系:社交焦虑和自我控制的中介作用

The Relationship between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Internet Overuse: The Mediating Effects of Social Anxiety and Self-Control

本研究以864名大学生为被试,探讨负面评价恐惧与网络过度使用的关系以及社交焦虑和自我控制在这一关系中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)负面评价恐惧与社交焦虑和网络过度使用之间均呈显著正相关,与自我控制存在显著负相关;(2)负面评价恐惧通过社交焦虑和自我控制的中介作用对网络过度使用产生影响,这一中介作用包含了三条路径:社交焦虑和自我控制的单独中介作用以及社交焦虑-自我控制的序列中介作用。这一结论有助于促进对大学生网络过度使用的干预与预防。

The Internet is a wild and wonderful place which has forever changed the way we live,learn,and work.However,when a person cannot find a balance between their time online and offline,it can mean problems for their mental health.Internet overuse is excessive internet use that interferes with daily life.Researchers estimate that 6-13%of people overuse the Internet.According to the cognitive-behavioral model of internet addiction,predispositions toward Internet overuse are related to fear of negative evaluation.Prior studies have focused mainly on the direct association between fear of negative evaluation and Internet overuse;However,little is known about the underlying mediating mechanism(i.e.fear of negative evaluation influencing Internet overuse).To address these gaps,the present study examined the mediating role of self-control and social anxiety in the relation between fear of negative evaluation and Internet overuse.A total of 864 college students(mean age=19.53 years,SD=1.37 years)participated in this study.We recruited participants from three universities in Hunan Province.All participants gave written consent.Social anxiety was measured with the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale(SIAS).Self-control was assessed with the Self-Control Scale for Chinese College Students(SCS).The Internet Addiction Test(IAT)was used to assess Internet overuse.All of the measures had good reliability and validity.The proposed serial mediation model was tested using regression analysis and the PROCESS macro.The effects of gender and age were controlled in all analyses.The main findings of this study were as follows:(1)After controlling for gender and age,fear of negative evaluation was positively correlated with social anxiety and Internet overuse,but negatively correlated with self-control;Social anxiety was positively correlated with Internet overuse,but negatively correlated with self-control,and Internet overuse was negatively correlated with self-control;(2)Mediation analysis revealed that fear of negative evaluation affected Internet overuse through the mediation of social anxiety and self-control.The mediation effect contained three paths,the separate mediation effects of social anxiety and self-control,and the serial mediation effect of social anxiety and self-control.These findings support our hypothesis.In summary,these findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms by which fear of negative evaluation impacts Internet overuse.On one hand,fear of negative evaluation affects Internet overuse through the mediating effects of social anxiety and self-control.On the other hand,Internet addiction has a complex internal mechanism and is the result of the interaction of multiple factors.The present study may contribute to our understanding of the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and Internet overuse.Last but not least,intervention aimed at preventing Internet overuse needs to focus on multiple factors.