Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41788273›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026

Insecure attachment and problematic social media use: the chain mediating role of social support and social anxiety.

Miaomiao Zeng, Liangrong Huang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Miaomiao Zeng *School of Education, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China.
Liangrong Huang *School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of problematic social media use among college students has reached levels that constitute a public health concern. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between insecure attachment (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and problematic social media use, while exploring the potential mediating roles of social support and social anxiety. Methods: The study utilized the Intimacy Experience Scale, the Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Support Scale, and the Problematic Social Media Use Scale to investigate 454 college ( Results: The results showed that both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were positively correlated with problematic social media use. The results of the chain mediation model indicated that both social support and social anxiety independently mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and problematic social media use. Furthermore, social support and social anxiety acted as chain mediators between attachment anxiety and problematic social media use. A similar chain mediation pathway was identified for attachment avoidance, whereby social support and social anxiety also served as sequential mediators. Conclusion: These findings offer new insights for the intervention and treatment of problematic social media use. The implications of the results are discussed.

Indexed as

attachment anxietyattachment avoidanceinsecure attachmentproblematic social media usesocial anxietysocial support

Identifiers

PMID41788273
PMCPMC12957184

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.