Social media addiction on mental health of undergraduates
Keywords:
anxiety, depression, social comparison theory, social life suffering, social media addiction, mental healthAbstract
Young people are avid social media users and, as such, might be prone to mental health issues because of the comparison of the kind of life they see on social media. The study was anchored on the social comparison theory; hence, it investigated the influence of social media on the mental health of Afe Babalola University undergraduates. The survey design with a sample of 382 was chosen from the population of 8500 students. The study adopted the purposive sampling technique as respondents were chosen based on their usage of social media. It was discovered that increased use of social media leads to deeper social life suffering in the sense that addicted users interact more and value social media friends more than real-life interactions with family and friends. The study also revealed a moderate correlation between the increase in social media addiction and the increase in the mental health of users. Thus, social media significantly influences the mental health of undergraduates in the university.
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