The Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness in Linking Insecure Attachment to Social Media Addiction: Evidence from Chinese University Students
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Research Hypotheses
2.1. Insecure Attachment and Social Media Addiction
2.2. The Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation
2.3. The Mediating Role of Loneliness and Its Serial Pathway with FNE
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Participants
3.2. Instruments
3.2.1. Insecure Attachment
3.2.2. Fear of Negative Evaluation
3.2.3. Loneliness
3.2.4. Social Media Addiction
3.3. Procedure
3.4. Data Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Descriptive Analysis and Correlations
4.2. Testing the Serial Mediation Effect
5. Discussion
5.1. Associations Between Insecure Attachment and Social Media Addiction
5.2. Serial Mediational Effects of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness
5.3. Limitations and Future Implications
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | n | (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 193 | 48.25 |
Female | 207 | 51.75 | |
Age | 18–22 | 232 | 58.00 |
23–27 | 168 | 42.00 | |
Residence | Urban | 233 | 58.25 |
Rural | 167 | 41.75 | |
Only child | Yes | 127 | 31.75 |
No | 273 | 68.25 | |
Relationship Status | Single | 248 | 62.00 |
In a relationship | 152 | 38.00 | |
Education Level | Junior college student | 24 | 6.00 |
Undergraduate student | 276 | 69.00 | |
Master’s | 96 | 24.00 | |
Doctoral | 4 | 1.00 | |
Academic Pressure (Self-rated) | Very Low | 3 | 0.75 |
Low | 56 | 14.00 | |
Moderate | 84 | 21.00 | |
High | 221 | 55.25 | |
Very High | 36 | 9.00 | |
Avg. Daily Social Media Use | <1 h | 5 | 1.25 |
[1, 2) | 64 | 16.00 | |
[2, 4) | 176 | 44.00 | |
[4, 6) | 109 | 27.25 | |
≥6 h | 46 | 11.50 |
Variable | M | SD | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Gender | 1.52 | 0.50 | − | ||||||
2. Academic Pressure (Self-rated) | 3.58 | 0.87 | 0.10 * | − | |||||
3. Avg. Daily Social Media Use | 3.32 | 0.92 | 0.15 ** | 0.11 * | − | ||||
4. Attachment Anxiety (AAX) | 3.61 | 0.93 | 0.09 | 0.33 ** | 0.17 ** | − | |||
5. Attachment Avoidance (AAV) | 2.38 | 0.92 | 0.17 ** | 0.06 | −0.02 | 0.26 ** | − | ||
6. Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) | 3.42 | 0.92 | 0.16 ** | 0.37 ** | 0.22 ** | 0.74 ** | −0.07 | − | |
7. Loneliness (LNL) | 2.40 | 0.76 | 0.18 ** | 0.31 ** | 0.12 * | 0.51 ** | 0.11 * | 0.55 ** | − |
8. Social Media Addiction (SMA) | 3.09 | 0.80 | 0.23 ** | 0.38 ** | 0.45 ** | 0.55 ** | −0.04 | 0.63 ** | 0.57 ** |
Pathway | Estimate | SE | β | t | Model R2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct Effects | |||||
AAX as the Independent Variables | |||||
AAX→FNE | 0.67 | 0.03 | 0.68 | 19.28 *** | 0.58 |
AAX→LNL | 0.18 | 0.05 | 0.22 | 3.56 *** | 0.34 |
FNE→LNL | 0.28 | 0.05 | 0.34 | 5.41 *** | |
AAX→SMA | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.12 | 2.43 * | 0.59 |
FNE→SMA | 0.23 | 0.04 | 0.26 | 5.15 *** | |
LNL→SMA | 0.29 | 0.04 | 0.28 | 6.92 *** | |
AAV as the Independent Variables | |||||
AAV→FNE | −0.11 | 0.05 | −0.11 | −2.37 * | 0.19 |
AAV→LNL | 0.11 | 0.03 | 0.13 | 3.06 ** | 0.34 |
FNE→LNL | 0.42 | 0.04 | 0.51 | 11.23 *** | |
AAV→SMA | −0.06 | 0.03 | −0.07 | −2.04 * | 0.59 |
FNE→SMA | 0.28 | 0.04 | 0.33 | 7.92 *** | |
LNL→SMA | 0.32 | 0.04 | 0.30 | 7.68 *** | |
Total Effects | |||||
AAX→SMA | 0.36 | 0.03 | 0.42 | 10.91 *** | 0.49 |
AAV→SMA | 0.07 | 0.04 | −0.08 | −1.97 * | 0.34 |
Pathway | Indirect Effect | SE | LLCI | ULCI |
---|---|---|---|---|
Indirect Effect | ||||
AAX→FNE→SMA | 0.18 | 0.04 | 0.10 | 0.26 |
AAX→LNL→SMA | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.11 |
AAX→FNE→LNL→SMA | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.10 |
AAV→FNE→SMA | −0.04 | 0.02 | −0.07 | −0.01 |
AAV→LNL→SMA | 0.04 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.07 |
AAV→FNE→LNL→SMA | −0.02 | 0.01 | −0.03 | −0.00 |
Total Indirect Effect | ||||
AAX→FNE→LNL→SMA | 0.30 | 0.04 | 0.22 | 0.39 |
AAV→FNE→LNL→SMA | −0.01 | 0.03 | −0.07 | 0.04 |
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Xu, D.; He, R. The Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness in Linking Insecure Attachment to Social Media Addiction: Evidence from Chinese University Students. Brain Sci. 2025, 15, 843. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15080843
Xu D, He R. The Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness in Linking Insecure Attachment to Social Media Addiction: Evidence from Chinese University Students. Brain Sciences. 2025; 15(8):843. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15080843
Chicago/Turabian StyleXu, Di, and Ruoxi He. 2025. "The Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness in Linking Insecure Attachment to Social Media Addiction: Evidence from Chinese University Students" Brain Sciences 15, no. 8: 843. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15080843
APA StyleXu, D., & He, R. (2025). The Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Loneliness in Linking Insecure Attachment to Social Media Addiction: Evidence from Chinese University Students. Brain Sciences, 15(8), 843. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15080843