Mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between social anxiety and problematic internet use

Abstract

This study aimed to examine whether there is a mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between social anxiety and problematic Internet use (PIU). The sample consisted of 297 participants (147 [49%] males; aged from 18 to 24 years), who were university students studying sport sciences in four universities in Turkey. Data were obtained using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Internet Addiction Scale, and Scale of Difficulties in Emotional Regulation. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. According to the results obtained, emotion regulation difficulty has a full mediating role in the relationship between social anxiety and PIU. As a result, social anxiety affects emotion regulation difficulties and this effect could increase PIU.

The Predictive Ability of Social Anxiety within Internet Addiction among University Students

“…There are also nonexistence of statistically significant differences at the Internet addiction level among the Hashemite university students, due to gender and it appears from the result that students who have the desire to be addicted to the Internet and will use the Internet for long hours, regardless of their social type or gender will find the necessary time to meet their full needs satisfied by the Internet use. The current findings agree with the study results of Kürşad et al (2020); Mustafa et al (2018); Tras and Gökçen (2020) where its results indicated nonexistence of differences in the social anxiety, due to gender.…”

“…With regard to the widespread of Internet addiction, the results of Alshehri et al (2015) study indicated that Internet addiction is a common problem with about (45.3%) of students who suffer from the Internet addiction, as the study sample. The study results of Kürşad et al (2020); Dorani et al (2015) also indicated a correlation between the Internet addiction and social anxiety and the nonexistence of differences in the addiction degree between males and females (Mustafa et al, 2018) and this confirmed by the study results of Harman, Hansen, Cochran, and Lindsey (2005) which indicated a correlation between Internet addiction and the high level of social anxiety and violence.…”

“…Results of Carleton et al (2010); Shand et al (2010)'s study indicated a high degree of anxiety, while the study results of Mustafa et al (2018); Dorani, Elhadif, Bukovza, Yarmulnik, and Dannon (2015) indicated a medium degree of anxiety among study members. There are differences between males and females with regard to social anxiety, while differences in social anxiety were in favor of females, as in the study of Onwuegbuzie (2004) while the study of Kürşad et al (2020); Mustafa et al (2018); Tras and Gökçen (2020) indicated no differences in social anxiety between males and females.…”

“…The Internet users continue to spend more time online, and naturally give less time to other activities and other people in their lives, while overlooking the significant role it play in their life where it transmit a huge amounts of information between persons of human race at an amazing speed and made the world a small cosmic village where people interact with each other (Ahmed & Santos, 2019). There are many symptoms of internet addiction, which include a steady increase in the number of online hours that exceed the periods set by individuals for themselves (Kürşad, Çutuk, Soyer, Akkuş, & Aydoğan, 2020) and the extreme stress and anxiety in the existence of any barrier for network connectivity that may reach the point of depression if the Internet cutoff stayed for long period, and feeling very happy and psychologically comfortable whenever Internet comes back on (Azher, Khan, & Salim, 2014). The negligence of social, family, and job duties due to the use of network, in addition to talking about the Internet in everyday life and continuously using the Internet in spite of some problems, such as loss of social relationships and being late for work, as well as suddenly waking up and having the desire to open email or see the list of callers on social media (Ahmed & Santos, 2019).…”

“…The researchers' interest in education and psychology recently; and in light of the COVID-19 spread has focused on examining an important variable, such as social anxiety as a variable that has an impact on people's lives, as well as people focus on using the Internet to extract information and track news, which has affected individuals in general and the student class in particular, especially since learning has become electronic. Therefore, many researchers have examined the social anxiety topic from different respects, and here are some of the studies that addressed the social anxiety among the university students Buckner and Schmidt (2009); Carleton, Collimore, and Asmundson (2010); Higa, Phillips, Chorpita, and Daleiden (2008); Mustafa, Özteke, and Ahin (2018); Shand, Degenhardt, Nelson, and Mattick (2010) and Kürşad et al (2020) while other researchers have gone on to study the social anxiety among school students, such as Alshehri, Azahrani, and Alotaibi (2015); Tras and Gökçen (2020) and Seong, Hwang, and Ja (2005).…”