Social Media Excessive Use and COVID-19 Related Stress in Young Adults

Abstract

Social media use significantly increased during the novel pandemic. The problems of infodemic associated with uncontrolled social media usage added to COVID-19 related stress in young adults. This study was aimed at finding the relationship between problematic social media usage, COVID-19 related stress and time spent on social media. A cross-sectional research design with a survey method was applied to the population of Punjab Province, Pakistan. The data of 412 participants of age 18 to 35 (38% males and 62% females) was analyzed for results. Statistical analysis showed that COVID-19 related stress is positively and significantly (r =0.40, p < .01) associated with social media excessive use but not with the time spent on social media. The R² value of 0.16 revealed that the predictor variable (social media excessive use) explained 16% variance in the outcome variable (COVID-19 related stress) with F (1, 410) = 76.79, p < .001. The study confirms the negative effects of excessive social media consumption on mental health during the pandemic. The benefits of findings for policymakers, government and health psychologists are discussed.