Youth Characteristics and Internet Addiction in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: The Mediating Role of Social Anxiety Disorder.
This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of social anxiety in the association between Internet addiction and characteristics of youth in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. A cross-sectional study included 2095 youth aged 15–24 from five countries (Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, and Syr...
| Publicado en: | International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 2185 - 2203 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Jun2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194419570&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 194419570 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15571874 46AW jtl: International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction issn: 15571874 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 24 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 194419570 10.1007/s11469-025-01500-7 ppf: 2185 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 879KB tig: atl: Youth Characteristics and Internet Addiction in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: The Mediating Role of Social Anxiety Disorder. aug: au: Elrewany, Ehab Ghazy, Ramy Mohamed Shiba, Hoda Ali Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, Suzan Shabrawy, Abdelhamid El alabdo, Nayef kheder Altayf, Alhasan Alshahrani, Fahad Abdullah S. Abouelmagd, Moaz Elsayed Tarawneh, Haneen Al-Muqbel, Rahaf Fadl, Noha affil: https://ror.org/00mzz1w90 Tropical Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt https://ror.org/052kwzs30 Community and Family Medicine Department, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia https://ror.org/05fnp1145 Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt https://ror.org/03q21mh05 Biostatistics and Demography, Faculty of Graduate Studies for Statistical Research, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt https://ror.org/01h8c9041 Faculty of Medicine, Syrian Private University, Damascus, Syria https://ror.org/00ehj1e38 Faculty of Medicine, Azzaytuna University, Tarhuna, Libya https://ror.org/052kwzs30 College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia https://ror.org/03q21mh05 Kasr-Alainy Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt https://ror.org/03y8mtb59 Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Jordan https://ror.org/00mzz1w90 Family Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt su: Saudi Arabia Internet addiction Social anxiety Cross-sectional method Youth psychology Social phobia Structural equation modeling sug: subj: Internet addiction Social anxiety Cross-sectional method Youth psychology Social phobia Saudi Arabia Structural equation modeling keyword: Adolescents Compulsory internet use Eastern Mediterranean Region Problematic internet use Social Phobia Structural Equation Modelling Adolescents Compulsory internet use Eastern Mediterranean Region Problematic internet use Social Phobia Structural Equation Modelling ab: This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of social anxiety in the association between Internet addiction and characteristics of youth in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. A cross-sectional study included 2095 youth aged 15–24 from five countries (Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria). The outcome was Internet addiction; the independent variables were characteristics of youth; meanwhile, the mediator was social anxiety. The Arabic versions of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale and the Social Phobia Inventory were used to assess Internet addiction and social anxiety, respectively. The mean age of participants was 20.8 ± 2.5 years, and 46.8% were males. The prevalence of Internet addiction and social anxiety was 43.3% and 67.5%, respectively. The structural equation modelling showed that social anxiety was positively associated with Internet addiction. Urban residents, older age, and males were less likely to develop Internet addiction, the associations were both direct and indirect through social anxiety. Participants from higher-income countries were less likely to report Internet addiction compared to low-income countries; the mediating role of social anxiety reversed this association. These findings highlight the importance of reducing social anxiety to minimize the susceptibility of youth to Internet addiction. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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