Abstract:
Though the number of students who use social media in academic institutions increases globally,
it has been reported to have side effects on students psychological wellbeing if they are addicted
to it. The objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with students’ social media
addiction and its effects on their psychological wellbeing. Hence, using a cross-sectional survey
design a total of 250 (male=150 female=100) undergraduate students involved in the study.
Data were collected through pilot-tested standardized scales. Data analysis was conducted using
SPSS version 20. Particularly, Mean, Standard Deviation, Pearson Correlation and Multiple
linear regressions were used for data analysis.
Findings show that the majority of 146(58%) of the respondents scored above the average (M=
41.3 & SD=9.9)) on social media addiction scale. Moreover, analysis of Pearson correlation
showed that social media addiction has statistically significant negative relationship with
psychological wellbeing (r= - 0.795, p<0.01). Analysis of multiple linear regression confirmed
that both independent and moderating variables entered the model explained about 82.6 percent
of variation in the level of students’ psychological wellbeing (p<0.01). Weekly time spent on
social media (β = .526, p = .000) was found to have the strongest effect on respondents’
psychological wellbeing followed by sex (β = .481, p = .000), age (β = .460, p = .000) and social
media addiction (β = .246, p =.013) at 1 percent level of significance. Type of social media
instrument was found to be the least predictor of students’ psychological wellbeing (β = .159, p
=.003). Finally, it is recommended that social workers should work jointly with volunteer
students and university guidance and counseling personnel in developing students’ awareness
regarding safe use of social media.
