Background. Despite the growing prevalence of internet usage among young people, the relationships between internet addiction, online social anxiety, fear of missing out (FoMO), and interpersonal sensitivity remain uncertain, intricate, and multifaceted. To gain insight into the underlying psychological mechanisms, we employed network analysis to explore the interconnections between them. This endeavor may provide fresh opportunities for intervention and treatment. Methods. In this study, 470 participants were assessed at age from 18 to 22 ( years, ) years. Network analysis was used to examine the connections between symptoms, and statistical measures were applied to assess the stability of the network model. Results. Online social anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity had the strongest associations with other symptoms in the network, with “Evaluation anxiety” having the highest expected influence centrality, followed by “Privacy concern anxiety,” “Need for approval,” “Suspicion,” and “vulnerability.” The FoMO symptom, “Fear of missing information,” had the strongest direct relation to internet addiction. “Evaluation anxiety” and “Fear of missing information” played a key role in bridging internet addiction and interpersonal sensitivity. Additionally, the structure distribution of edge weights had a significant difference between gender. Conclusions. Our findings indicated that FoMO, interpersonal sensitivity, and online social anxiety likely play a significant role in the development and continuation of internet addiction. Interpersonal sensitivity seems to contribute to increased online social anxiety, FoMO, and the development of internet addiction, indicating that targeting these symptoms may help reduce negative online behavior and psychological burden.

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have examined the mechanisms underlying nonverbal emotional information processing in people with high social anxiety (HSA). However, most of these studies have focused on the processing of facial expressions, and there has been scarce research on gesture or even face-gesture combined processing in HSA individuals. The present study explored the processing characteristics and mechanism of the interaction between gestures and facial expressions in people with HSA and low social anxiety (LSA). The present study recruited university students as participants and used the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale scores to distinguish the HSA and LSA groups. We used a 2 (group: HSA and LSA) × 2 (emotion valence: positive, negative) × 2 (task: face, gesture) multifactor mixed design, and videos of a single face or gesture and combined face-gesture cues were used as stimuli. We found that (1) there is a distinction in the processing of faces and gestures, with individuals recognizing gestures faster than faces; (2) there is an attentional enhancement in the processing of gestures, particularly for negative gestures; and (3) when the emotional valence of faces and gestures align, it facilitates the recognition of both. However, incongruent gestures have a stronger impact on the processing of facial expressions compared to facial expressions themselves, suggesting that the processing of facial emotions is more influenced by environmental cues provided by gestures. These findings indicated that gestures played an important role in emotional processing, and facial emotional processing was more dependent on the environmental cues derived from gestures, which helps to clarify the reasons for biases in the interpretation of emotional information in people with HSA.

Background: Emotional granularity (EG), the ability to finely distinguish emotional experiences, plays a crucial role in emotion regulation and social interactions. This study measures EG using a standardized experimental procedure and assesses related variables through questionnaires. We employ both undirected graphical Gaussian models (GGM) and directed Bayesian network analysis (NA) to investigate how positive EG (PEG) and negative EG (NEG), in conjunction with emotion regulation, uniquely influences social anxiety and interpersonal relationships. Methods: The sample comprised 407 junior high school students from China, aged 13–14 years old. We utilized the Photo Emotion Differentiation Task (PED task), Emotion Regulation Scale (ERS), Interpersonal Relationship Comprehensive Diagnostic Scale (IRCDS), and Adolescent Social Anxiety Scale (SAS‐A) to measure emotional differentiation, emotion regulation, interpersonal relationships, and social anxiety, respectively. Results: The undirected network highlights a pronounced relationship between interpersonal relationships and social anxiety. “Socialization and Friendship Distress” shows the highest expected influence, followed by “Social Avoidance and Distress in General Situations”, and “Conversational Distress”. Bayesian NA indicates that both PEG and NEG, along with cognitive reappraisal (CR), influence social anxiety and interpersonal relationships. PEG directly affects social anxiety features, whereas NEG is influenced by them. Additionally, females experience more severe issues with interpersonal relationships and social anxiety than males. Conclusion: The study revealed that individuals with lower positive EG directly impact social anxiety and interpersonal issues, and indirectly affect CR. Conversely, negative EG is mainly influenced by social anxiety symptoms and directly affects CR strategies. These findings highlight the importance of EG in adolescent mental health, suggesting that enhancing emotional differentiation could effectively address social anxiety and foster healthier interpersonal relationships.

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have examined the mechanisms underlying nonverbal emotional information processing in people with high social anxiety (HSA). However, most of these studies have focused on the processing of facial expressions, and there has been scarce research on gesture or even face-gesture combined processing in HSA individuals. The present study explored the processing characteristics and mechanism of the interaction between gestures and facial expressions in people with HSA and low social anxiety (LSA). The present study recruited university students as participants and used the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale scores to distinguish the HSA and LSA groups. We used a 2 (group: HSA and LSA) × 2 (emotion valence: positive, negative) × 2 (task: face, gesture) multifactor mixed design, and videos of a single face or gesture and combined face-gesture cues were used as stimuli. We found that (1) there is a distinction in the processing of faces and gestures, with individuals recognizing gestures faster than faces; (2) there is an attentional enhancement in the processing of gestures, particularly for negative gestures; and (3) when the emotional valence of faces and gestures align, it facilitates the recognition of both. However, incongruent gestures have a stronger impact on the processing of facial expressions compared to facial expressions themselves, suggesting that the processing of facial emotions is more influenced by environmental cues provided by gestures. These findings indicated that gestures played an important role in emotional processing, and facial emotional processing was more dependent on the environmental cues derived from gestures, which helps to clarify the reasons for biases in the interpretation of emotional information in people with HSA.