SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AS A PREDICTOR OF SOCIAL ANXIETY AND THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM AMONG UNIVERSITY NEW INTAKE.

Abstract

The rapid permeation of social media into everyday life has transformed the dynamics of communication, socialization, and identity formation globally. The pervasive use of social media among university students has raised concerns regarding its psychological impact, particularly on social anxiety. This study investigated the extent to which social media addiction predicts social anxiety among freshmen of Federal University Oye-Ekiti and examined the mediating role of self-esteem. A cross-sectional correlation survey design was adopted, with 250 randomly selected first-year students completing validated measures of social media addiction, self-esteem, and social anxiety. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that social media addiction was positively associated with social anxiety (r = .45, p < .05), while self-esteem was negatively correlated with both social media addiction (r = -.38, p < .05) and social anxiety (r = -.42, p < .05). Simple linear regression indicated that social media addiction significantly predicted social anxiety (β = .45, t = 7.83, p < .05), explaining 20% of the variance (R² = 0.20). Mediation analysis demonstrated that self-esteem partially mediated this relationship, with a significant indirect effect (B = .14, 95% CI [.09, .20]), while the direct effect of social media addiction on social anxiety remained significant (B = .27, p < .001). The role of self-esteem in explaining how social media use contributes to social anxiety was explained in the study and interventions were suggested. The study recommends that universities should organize programs and workshops aimed at promoting healthy social media habits among freshmen while emphasizing time management, digital literacy, and strategies to reduce dependence on online validation to prevent the escalation of social anxiety.