The role of social media on university students’ mental health

Abstract

This quantitative dissertation explores how social media use affects university students' mental health in the current digital age. It recognises growing concerns about the impact of social media on young adults and seeks to understand the unique mental health issues faced by all university students. The study primarily explores how popular social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook affect this groups mental health. The relationship of social media and mental health is explored within the context of today's digitally connected era, particularly focusing on young adults aged 18-25. This age group are important as they are moving into adulthood and gaining increasing independence. It is during this period that young adults navigate various social, academic, and personal challenges, all of which are related to their use of social media.

To gather data, I have used an online questionnaire on social media habits and mental health indicators among the target population. The sampling strategy involves a combination of convenience and purposive sampling. I collected data from my personal networks and also specifically targeted the age group of 18 to 25 to ensure the accurate representation across diverse sociodemographic backgrounds, with recruitment through university, social media platforms, and academic departments. The key research questions driving this investigation include the impact of social media usage on mental health symptoms, the influence of different social media platforms, social pressure, sleep patterns, body image perceptions, experiences with online negativity, coping mechanisms, emotional states and the prevalence of social media breaks from young university adults.

Overall, this research adds to the ongoing discussion on the impacts of social media on university students’ mental health. This topic needs further exploration to identify how we can make social media have a more positive influence on our well-being.