Should social withdrawal be held responsible for social media addiction? The chain mediating effect of alexithymia and negative body image

Abstract To explore the influence of social withdrawal on college students' addiction to social media and its underlying mechanisms.Using the Middle School Student Social Withdrawal Questionnaire, Social Media Addiction Questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Negative Body Image Scale, 2582 college students (33.46% male, average age = 19.46 years, SD = 2.23) were surveyed.Social withdrawal, alexithymia, negative body image, and social media addiction were significantly correlated with each other.Social withdrawal positively predicted social media addiction, and both alexithymia and negative body image played a chain-mediating role between social withdrawal and social media addiction. Conclusion: Individual social withdrawal not only directly affects college students' addiction to social media but also indirectly affects it through the chain mediating effects of alexithymia and negative body image.