The impact of emerging adulthood characteristics on college students’ anxiety: the mediating role of life satisfaction and Internet addiction

This study aimed to evaluate the association between anxiety and various factors in emerging adulthood, including characteristics of emerging adulthood, life satisfaction, and Internet addiction, among Chinese college students. A total of 1662 Chinese college students (mean age = 19.59 ± 1.20 years) participated in this study. The Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction, and Self-Rated Life Satisfaction (SWLS) scale were used to measure emerging adulthood characteristics, anxiety, Internet addiction, and life satisfaction. Path analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The study found significant associations between anxiety and various aspects of emerging adulthood. Specifically, anxiety showed a positive correlation with instability (r = 0.233, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation with elements such as possibilities, responsibility, and self-exploration (r =  − 0.081, − 0.055, − 0.109, p < 0.01), in emerging adult characteristics. Additionally, anxiety was positively correlated with Internet addiction and negatively correlated with life satisfaction. The study also revealed both direct and indirect effects of emerging adult characteristics on anxiety, mediated through life satisfaction and Internet addiction. The findings suggest that the characteristics of emerging adulthood have a significant impact on the anxiety levels of college students, an influence mediated by life satisfaction and Internet addiction.