Smartphones have become a central part of a person's everyday life. The easy access to smartphones has increased excessive Internet and social media use (Udayanga, 2023). Social media use has become more prevalent among modern societies at any age groups across the world (O'Day & Heimberg, 2021). Although social media eases effective interpersonal communication regardless of place and time strains, its excessive usage causes serious mental health issues among individuals (She et al., 2023), potentially leading to addictive behaviors (Udayanga, 2023). Moreover, it is asserted that one of the underlying factors of nomophobia could be problematic social media use behavior (Ayaz-Alkaya et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2021).

Nomophobia is defined as “a fear or anxiety of being without a smartphone or being unable to use it” (Rodríguez-García et al., 2020). Nomophobia is neither technically classified as a phobia nor is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) despite being extremely common and having several health consequences (Bragazzi & Del Puente, 2014). Nevertheless, nomophobia is a growing public health problem worldwide (Buctot et al., 2021; Nguyen et al., 2024; Terzi et al., 2024). Examples of nomophobia behaviors are checking the smartphone continuously for messages or calls, keeping the smartphone always switched on for 24 h, and sleeping with a smartphone in bed (Bragazzi & Del Puente, 2014).

As one of the causal factors of nomophobia, social media addiction also refers to the maladaptive use of social networks, characterized by addiction-specific symptoms and/or reduced self-regulation (Sun & Zhang, 2021). Social media addiction examples are difficulty cutting down on social media use, social media stalking, and excessive use of social media (Pellegrino et al., 2022). Social media addiction increases smartphone use time and accordingly, it may cause nomophobia (Lin et al., 2021; Terzi et al., 2024). In addition, it is reported that individuals who use social media extensively tend to experience high social anxiety (Yang et al., 2023). Previous studies highlighted the significant link between social media addiction and psychological distress, including stress and anxiety (Watson et al., 2022; Zhao, 2023), and low self-esteem (Ciacchini et al., 2023). Problematic social media use has emerged as a significant concern especially among adolescents and young adults (Udayanga, 2023). Several studies have demonstrated that excessive social media users are more likely to have social anxiety (Jiang & Ngien, 2020; Yang & Han, 2023).

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders affecting adolescents (Bodepudi et al., 2024). Social anxiety is the fear of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people. It is characterized by an intense fear of certain social situations, especially those unfamiliar or situations in which the individual is exposed to potential scrutiny by others. People with extreme social anxiety transfer most social activities, including the development of strong friendships, to the virtual world, where they feel safer and more comfortable than in the real world (Kaur et al., 2021). Although online interactions may be a less stressful means of communication for individuals with social anxiety, they may also lead to increased behaviors such as nomophobia or social media addiction. Social anxiety may be caused by increased rates of Internet and social media use, which triggers nomophobia behaviors (Lin et al., 2021;Prizant-Passal et al., 2016; Vannucci et al., 2020).

Social media networks have become a vital socialization tool for individuals with high levels of social anxiety because they do not require face-to-face interaction with people (Prizant-Passal et al., 2016; Vannucci et al., 2020). The rise of the digital age and the excessive use of smartphones in our daily lives also raise concerns about the psychosocial effects of social media addiction, social anxiety and nomophobia (Bodepudi et al., 2024). Given the increased use of social media among adolescents and their vulnerability to both social anxiety and nomophobia, it is essential to understand the relationship between these variables and whether social anxiety mediates the relationship between social media addiction and nomophobia in this population. Therefore, the current study focused on social anxiety as a mediator of social media addiction and nomophobia.

There are recent studies in the literature measuring the relationship between nomophobia and social media addiction (Aydin & Kuş, 2023; Dolapoğlu et al., 2025; Maftei & Pătrăușanu, 2024) and association between nomophobia and social anxiety levels (Bodepudi et al., 2024; Karaoglan Yilmaz et al., 2024) in adolescents. However, a gap still exists in the literature that reveals the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between social media addiction and nomophobia among this population. Therefore, given the increased use of social media among adolescents and their vulnerability to both social anxiety and nomophobia, it is essential to understand whether social anxiety mediates the relationship between social media addiction and nomophobia in this population. It is estimated that this study may provide insights into mental health problems formulated or magnified by increased dependence on technology and guide the development of strategies for the conscious use of smartphones and social media in adolescents, considering the mediating role of social anxiety. Thus, the results of the present study would pave the way for proactive activities, which will be designed to protect and promote adolescent mental health interventions, with the help of revealing the mediating effect of social anxiety.

The aim of the study was to measure nomophobia, social media addiction, and social anxiety and investigate the mediating role of social anxiety on the relationship between social media addiction and nomophobia among adolescents. Consistent with the conceptual framework, as shown in Fig. 1, the following hypotheses were empirically tested:

H1: Adolescents' social media addiction significantly predicts their social anxiety level.

H2: Adolescents' social media addiction significantly predicts their nomophobia behaviors.

H3: Adolescents' social anxiety significantly predicts their nomophobia behaviors.

H4: Social anxiety has a mediating role in the relationship between the adolescents' social media addiction and nomophobia behaviors.