In the shadow of the digital age: The dance of self-efficacy, psychological resilience, social anxiety, and digital addiction among university students

This study investigates how self-efficacy, psychological resilience, social anxiety, and digital addiction interact among university students in today's digital context. A cross-sectional design was applied to 511 undergraduates from three public universities in Turkey using structural equation modeling (SEM). Measures included the general self-efficacy, psychological resilience, social anxiety, and digital addiction scales. Results show that self-efficacy and psychological resilience significantly and negatively predict both social anxiety and digital addiction. Students with stronger beliefs in their capabilities and greater resilience cope more effectively with stress and are less prone to problematic technology use. In contrast, social anxiety positively predicts digital addiction: students experiencing higher social anxiety tend to avoid face-to-face interactions and turn to online settings, heightening addiction risk. Mediation analyses indicate that social anxiety partially mediates the links between self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and digital addiction. The proposed model explains 22% of the variance in social anxiety and 28% in digital addiction. Conceptually, the findings underscore that digital addiction extends beyond "screen time," reflecting deeper emotional needs, self-regulation capacities, and social avoidance tendencies. Practically, the study supports university-level awareness programs, stress management, and digital literacy training to foster self-efficacy and resilience. Additionally, cognitive-behavioral and emotion-focused interventions aimed at reducing social anxiety may help prevent digital addiction. Overall, the study provides an evidence-based foundation for holistic interventions that promote young adults' psychological well-being in the digital era.