Structural Relationships of Attachment Styles with Social Anxiety in Adolescents Dependent on Internet Games: The Mediating Role of Loneliness

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the structural relationships between attachment styles and social anxiety in adolescents dependent on internet games, considering the mediating role of loneliness. A random sample of 200 adolescents dependent on internet games was selected, and questionnaires on attachment style, social anxiety, and loneliness were completed for them. The results showed that a secure attachment style directly and indirectly leads to reduced social anxiety through decreased loneliness. Additionally, avoidant and anxious-ambivalent attachment styles directly and indirectly lead to increased social anxiety through heightened loneliness. These findings indicate that loneliness plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between attachment styles and social anxiety in adolescents dependent on internet games.