Abstract: Objective To explore the mediating role of online social anxiety in social media dependence and alienation,as well as in social media dependence and interpersonal relationship distress. This study aims to deeply analyze the impact path of college students' social media dependence on alienation and real interpersonal distress,and to propose feasible countermeasures and suggestions to guide college students to use social media reasonably and cultivate good interpersonal relationships. Methods From February to March 2023,a combination of stratified sampling and two-stage unequal probability sampling was used to select 860 college students from 46 universities at different levels in Jiangxi Province. Data was collected through online and offline questionnaires,and the data were analyzed. Results The direct impact of social media dependence on alienation was significant,with a 95%CI excluding 0 and an impact effect value of 0.212. The direct impact of social media dependence on real interpersonal distress had not been verified,with a 95%CI containing 0. The mediating effect of online social anxiety between social media dependence and alienation was significant,with a 95%CI excluding 0 and an impact effect of 0.417. The mediating effect of online social anxiety between social media dependence and real interpersonal distress was significant,with a 95%CI excluding 0,and an impact effect of 0.467. Conclusion Social media dependence can significantly affect alienation and cause interpersonal distress in reality,mainly through the mediating effect of online social anxiety. Online social anxiety plays a partial mediating role between social media dependence and alienation,and a complete mediating role between social media dependence and real interpersonal distress.

Key words: Social media dependence, Online social anxiety, Alienation, Real interpersonal distress