Social media content about anxiety, theories of anxiety, and coping strategies in college students.
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| Title: | Social media content about anxiety, theories of anxiety, and coping strategies in college students. |
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| Authors: | Asnes, Simon (AUTHOR), Sheets, Erin S. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of American College Health. Apr2026, Vol. 74 Issue 4, p1079-1084. 6p. |
| Subjects: | Social media, Risk assessment, Cross-sectional method, Self-evaluation, Emotion regulation, Internet searching, Mental health, Content analysis, Anxiety, Psychological adaptation, Problem solving, Descriptive statistics, Psychology, Despair, Professional employee training, Statistics, Psychology of college students, Theory, Psychological tests, Data analysis software, Generalized anxiety disorder, Avoidance (Psychology), Hope, Regression analysis |
| Geographic Terms: | New England |
| Abstract: | Objective: To address current anxiety rates in college students by examining the impact of anxiety mindset on generalized anxiety symptoms and coping strategies and by characterizing student interaction with online anxiety content. Methods: Five hundred and eleven college students (aged 18–23) completed a cross-sectional, online survey that included validated self-report measures and additional questions regarding social media content. Results: Anxiety mindset moderated the relationship between generalized anxiety symptoms and problem-focused and emotional coping. Participants reported high rates of encountering anxiety content on social media, and often this content was encountered without intentionally searching for it. Seeing more hopeless anxiety content was related to greater generalized anxiety symptoms, avoidance coping, and more fixed mindsets of anxiety. Conclusion: Our results support the benefits of a growth mindset of anxiety over a fixed mindset of anxiety, and provide preliminary evidence of the harmful effects of anxiety content on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of American College Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Objective: To address current anxiety rates in college students by examining the impact of anxiety mindset on generalized anxiety symptoms and coping strategies and by characterizing student interaction with online anxiety content. Methods: Five hundred and eleven college students (aged 18–23) completed a cross-sectional, online survey that included validated self-report measures and additional questions regarding social media content. Results: Anxiety mindset moderated the relationship between generalized anxiety symptoms and problem-focused and emotional coping. Participants reported high rates of encountering anxiety content on social media, and often this content was encountered without intentionally searching for it. Seeing more hopeless anxiety content was related to greater generalized anxiety symptoms, avoidance coping, and more fixed mindsets of anxiety. Conclusion: Our results support the benefits of a growth mindset of anxiety over a fixed mindset of anxiety, and provide preliminary evidence of the harmful effects of anxiety content on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 07448481 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/07448481.2025.2492168 |
