The Impact of Undergraduates’ Social Isolation on Smartphone Addiction: The Roles of Academic Anxiety and Social Media Use

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has an adverse effect on the physical health of societies and individuals. One important concern is the effect of social isolation on the mental health of undergraduates, such as academic anxiety, smartphone addiction and other social psychological problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations among undergraduates’ social isolation in this special context, social media use for obtaining information about the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., communicative and non-communicative), academic anxiety, and smartphone addiction. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June in 2022 and a total of 388 undergraduates were included. The results showed significant positive associations between social isolation and smartphone addiction and academic anxiety. Furthermore, academic anxiety played a mediating role in the effect of social isolation on smartphone addiction, which was moderated by non-communicative social media use. Some theoretical and practical implications as well as research limitations are discussed.

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“…Academic/Performance anxiety Academic anxiety can be defined as ākonga self-doubt in their abilities, nervousness and worry over grades, and overall negative imagery of themselves as academic learners (Mooney, 2022). While the concept of academic anxiety is not new to the tertiary environment, studies have indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased incidence (Zeng et al, 2022).…”

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“… I only perform specific duties that I had agreed to when I joined school. Academic Anxieties (AA) Zeng et al, 2022; 43 Jia et al, 2021 44 I am anxious about the final exam. I feel anxious during class.…”

“…Academic anxiety, characterized by feelings of apprehension, worry, and stress related to academic tasks, evaluations, and achievements, 1 , 2 , 4 has been recognized as a significant concern in educational risk research, 4 , 7 along with internet addiction. 3 , 6 Among college students, academic anxiety is a prevalent psychological condition that can have profound effects on their academic performance, 43 mental health, 44 and overall educational experience. 3 , 7 The numerous academic demands faced by students, such as coursework, exams, presentations, and deadlines, along with the high expectations placed upon them, contribute to the development of academic anxiety.…”

“… 1 Consequently, students may exhibit symptoms such as excessive worry, difficulty concentrating, perfectionism, fear of failure, and self-doubt, significantly hindering their ability to perform at their best. 45 , 46 …”

How does family functioning contribute to academic-related outcomes of Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of spirituality

“…Nevertheless, striving for academic excellence would create much learning stress and academic anxiety to students (Xu et al, 2022). Previous research has showed that academic anxiety is negatively related to learning ability, self-confidence, academic performance, and positively predicted smartphone addiction, academic burnout, negative mood, and self-handicapping behaviors (e.g., Jia et al, 2021;Adams et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2022;Zeng et al, 2022). As a consequence, academic anxiety undermines students' academic performance.…”