Impact of social media addiction on anxiety symptoms as modified by social support and its subscales

Of the sample, 21.4% exhibited SMA symptoms. The mean anxiety symptoms and social support scores were 6.7 ± 5.4 and 61.8 ± 14.2, respectively. SMA was associated with higher anxiety scores (adjusted coefficient [aB] = 2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.35, 2.70; <i>p < </i>.001). Social support was associated with lower anxiety scores (aB = -0.06, 95% CI = -0.08, -0.04; <i>p < </i>.001). Among individuals with SMA, higher overall social support (aB = -0.05, 95% CI = -0.10, -0.01; <i>p = </i>.033), family support (aB = -0.14, 95% CI = -0.26 to -0.02; <i>p = </i>.025), and support from significant others (aB = -0.13, 95% CI = -0.25, -0.01; <i>p = </i>.047) were each associated with lower severity of anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Overall social support, particularly support from family and significant others, is associated with reduced anxiety symptom levels and serves as a moderating factor in mitigating the adverse effects of social media addiction on anxiety symptom severity. Social support plays an important role in protecting young adults' mental health from social media use.