The Effect Of Digital Stress On Negative Emotions In College Students

Background:College students have negative emotions such as stress,anxiety,and depression due to various factors such as employment,education,social networking,and love.Some studies have found that the role of psychological stress and social media burnout in the relationship between digital stress and negative emotions is worth exploring.Objective:To study the interaction between psychological stress,social media burnout,digital stress,and negative emotions,and to test whether there is a parallel mediating effect between psychological stress and social media burnout between digital stress and negative emotions,and to reveal the mechanism of digital stress on negative emotions.Method:In Study 1,by combing and summarizing relevant domestic and foreign literature,in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 college students,and the interview text was analyzed and coded.Based on the existing digital stress model,a preliminary questionnaire of the "College Student Digital Stress Scale" was developed with 74 items.Sample 1(n=1230)was tested using an online questionnaire platform and the data was collected.After project analysis and exploratory factor analysis,a formal scale with 5 dimensions and 34 items was formed.Subsequently,data from sample 3(n=530)were collected to verify the reliability and validity of the formal scale.Study 2 used sample 2(n=1230)data to verify the cross gender measurement equivalence of the scale.Study 3 used sample 3(n=530)data to explore the mediating role of social media burnout and psychological stress between digital stress and negative emotions.Results:(1)The "Digital Stress Scale for College Students" consisted of 34 topics and five dimensions,namely,recognition anxiety,social stress,connection overload,online vigilance,and fear of loss.A Likert 5-point score was used;The Cronbach a coefficients for each dimension of the scale are between 0.811 and 0.929;The retest reliability coefficient for a two week interval is between 0.656 and 0.825;The Cronbach a and retest reliability of the total scale were 0.955 and 0.819,respectively;The model fitting index for confirmatory factor analysis was x^2/df=2.369,RMSEA=0.047,CFI=0.941,TLI=0.917,and SRMR=0.025;The dimensions and total scores of the scale were significantly negatively correlated with the school standard questionnaire mindfulness awareness scale.(2)The five factor model of the Digital Stress Scale for College Students fitted well,while the morphological equivalent model,weak equivalent model,and strong equivalent model in different inter group samples were all accepted.(3)Social media burnout and psychological stress play a parallel mediating role in mediating college digital stress and negative emotions;In addition,social media burnout and psychological stress can independently mediate between digital stress and negative emotions,respectively.Conclusion:The Digital Stress Scale for College Students has good reliability and validity,and can effectively measure college students’ digital stress;The digital stress scale has good cross gender equivalence;Social media burnout and psychological stress have a parallel mediating effect between digital stress and negative emotions.