Mediating Role of Social Anxiety in the Relationship Between Phubbing and Social Media Addiction Among Higher Education Students

Increased reliance on smartphones has given rise to concerning behaviors such as phubbing, which has been linked to various adverse outcomes This study examines the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between phubbing behavior and problematic social media use among Turkish higher education students. A cross-sectional study with 783 university students majoring in Health Sciences used the Generic Scale of Phubbing, Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult, and Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users. Data were analyzed with Pearson correlations, multiple regression, and mediation modeling. Phubbing, problematic social media use, and social anxiety were positively correlated. Social anxiety significantly predicted both phubbing (14% variance) and problematic social media use (19% variance) and mediated the relationship between them (indirect effect = 0.051, 95% CI = 0.03–0.07). Social anxiety mediates the link between phubbing and problematic problematic social media use, highlighting the need for interventions addressing social anxiety to mitigate these digital behaviors.