The Relationship between Social Media Use and Appearance Anxiety of College students:The Serial Mediation of Psychological Flexibility and Rumination

Objective: This study explored the psychological pathways of social media use affecting college students' appearance anxiety, focusing on the sequential mediating pathways between psychological flexibility and ruminant thinking. Method: Using the convenience sampling method, 781 college students were surveyed by digital stress scale, multidimensional psychological flexibility questionnaire, college students' appearance rumination scale and appearance anxiety scale. Result : Social media use, psychological flexibility, rumination and college students' appearance anxiety are significantly correlated; Social media use had a predictive effect on college students' appearance anxiety, with the chain mediating indirect effect by psychological flexibility and rumination. Conclusion : The empirical results show that psychological flexibility and rumination play a sequential mediating role in the effect of social media use on appearance anxiety among college students.