psychological flexibility as a mediating variable in the relationship between digital distraction and social anxiety among university students

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Lecturer at Mental Health, Faculty of Education in Daqahlya Al Azhar University

10.21608/jsrep.2025.462351

Abstract

The current research aimed to reveal the mediating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between digital distraction and social anxiety, as well as to identify the level of digital distraction, social anxiety, and psychological flexibility among university students, in addition to identifying the differences in digital distraction, social anxiety, and psychological flexibility according to some demographic variables (gender, type of education, academic level). The following tools were applied: the Smartphone Digital Distraction Scale (Throuvala et al., 2021) translated by the researcher, the Social Anxiety Scale prepared by Hossam El-Din Mahmoud Azab et al. (2022), and the Personal Psychological flexibility Scale (Kashdan et al., 2020) translated by the researcher. The number of participants was (450) male and female students from the faculties of Al-Azhar University in Tefahna Al-Ashraf and Zagazig University. Using a descriptive correlational approach and statistical processing, the results revealed a direct effect of digital distraction as an independent variable on social anxiety as a dependent variable, and a partially indirect effect of psychological flexibility as a mediating variable in the relationship between digital distraction and social anxiety among university students. The results also showed a high level of digital distraction among participants, while social anxiety was approximately moderate among them. The results also indicated a low level of psychological flexibility among them. The results revealed differences between participants according to gender in both social anxiety and psychological, flexibility while no differences were found in digital distraction except for the online vigilance dimension. No differences were found between them according to the type of education in the research variables. The results also showed differences between participants according to academic level in both digital distraction, social anxiety, and psychological flexibility.                                                                                                       

Keywords


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