Social Interaction Anxiety and Problematic Smartphone Use: The Mediating Roles of Self-concept Clarity and Mood Regulation in Chinese Adolescents

The study aimed to investigate the serial mediation effects of self-concept clarity and mood regulation on the relationship between social interaction anxiety and problematic smartphone use based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. A total of 1,022 Chinese adolescents involved accomplished a series of self-report instruments, such as the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, Interaction Anxiousness Scale, Mood Regulation through Smartphone Scale, and Smartphone Addiction Scale. Analysis of descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations as well as structural equation modeling was carried out in the study. The results verified the hypothesized relationships and revealed that social interaction anxiety had a positive correlation with problematic smartphone use. This correlation was mediated by self-concept clarity and mood regulation through smartphones in a partial and sequential manner. Therefore, both mediators could act as strengthening factors in this relationship. Implications and suggestions are presented for further studies.