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Self-control and social support in the link between academic pressure anxiety depression and social media addiction in college students
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  • Published: 05 February 2026

Self-control and social support in the link between academic pressure anxiety depression and social media addiction in college students

  • WeiYu Ma1,
  • RuoNan Zhen2,
  • XiaYou Tan1,
  • YiNan He1,
  • JinWei Zhang1,
  • ShiHao Tang1 &
  • …
  • Zhi Wang1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Education
  • Psychology

Abstract

The deep integration of social media into daily routines has intensified concerns about problematic social media use among students, adversely affecting both educational outcomes and psychological well-being. Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive-behavioral Theory, this study investigates the roles of academic pressure, anxiety, and depression in the development of social media addiction, with particular attention to the mediating effect of self-control and the moderating role of social support. A survey of 900 college students collected data on these key variables. Structural equation modeling revealed that: academic pressure, anxiety, and depression directly increase social media addiction while also reducing self-control, which mediates the associations. Social support weakens the relationship between academic pressure and social media addiction, yet it fails to significantly moderate the link between anxiety and social media addiction. These findings reveal a multi-layered mechanism underlying social media addiction and provide valuable guidance for intervention strategies in higher education contexts.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Abbreviations

CFA:

Confirmatory factor analysis

VIF:

Variance inflation factor

KMO:

Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin

CMIN:

Chi-square value

DF:

 Degree of freedom

RMSEA:

Root mean’ square error of approximation

SRMR:

Standardized root mean square residual

GFI:

 Goodness-of-fit index

AGFI:

 Adjusted goodness-of-fit index

CFI :

Comparative fit index

IFI:

 Incremental fit index

TLI:

Tucker–Lewis index

AVE:

Average variance extracted

CR:

Composite reliability

HTMT:

Heterotrait–monotrait

CPM:

Complementary partial mediation

AP:

Academic pressure

DEP:

Depression

ANX:

Anxiety

SMA:

Social media addiction

SS:

Social support

SC:

Self-control

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Funding

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (2025A03J3540, 2025A03J3695, 202206010061, 2023A03J0502, 2025A031002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Twelfth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou, 510620, Guangdong, China

    WeiYu Ma, XiaYou Tan, YiNan He, JinWei Zhang, ShiHao Tang & Zhi Wang

  2. Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention（Guangzhou Health Supervision Institute), Guangzhou, 510440, Guangdong, China

    RuoNan Zhen

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Contributions

Conceptualization: ShiHao Tang, Zhi Wang, WeiYu Ma; Methodology: RuoNan Zhen, XiaYou Tan; Formal analysis and investigation: YiNan He, JinWei Zhang; Writing - original draft preparation: WeiYu Ma, RuoNan Zhen, XiaYou Tan; Writing - review and editing: YiNan He, ShiHao Tang, JinWei Zhang; Supervision: Zhi Wang. All the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhi Wang.

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Ma, W., Zhen, R., Tan, X. et al. Self-control and social support in the link between academic pressure anxiety depression and social media addiction in college students. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37112-x

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  • Received: 15 July 2025

  • Accepted: 19 January 2026

  • Published: 05 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37112-x

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Keywords

  • Academic pressure
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Self-control
  • Social support
  • Social media addiction
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