Effect of Social Media addiction on Quality of Life and Digital Stress among University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53573/rhimrj.2025.v12n8.011Keywords:
Social media addiction, quality of life, digital stress, university students, qualitative researchAbstract
Social media addiction is increasingly affecting university students, their daily lives, study performance, and psychological health. The current research investigates the connection between overindulgence in social media usage, digital stress, and quality of life. Knowledge on these impacts is crucial to create measures fostering more healthy digital practices among young adults. This qualitative conceptual research based on secondary data examines the effect of Social Media Addiction on Quality of life and digital stress on the university students. Through the integration of existing literature, the study identifies the key emerging themes such as fear of missing out, disruption of daily routines processes, academic procrastination and the pressure to maintain a socially desirable online persona. Such themes demonstrate the ways in which the excessive and compulsive use of social media leads to psychological distress, poor academic performance, and general decrease in the levels of life satisfaction. The analysis demonstrates the complex interconnection between compulsive digital behaviour and the stress-related outcomes that point to the possible disastrous impact of Social Media Addiction on students’ mental condition and social activity. The results call for an immediate need for the implementation of digital wellness initiatives in higher education institutions. These should comprise awareness campaigns, counselling services, and concepts to support mindful and balanced usage of the social net to enhance students’ well-being and academic success in the age of the ever-growing digitization.
References
Albursan, I.S., Al. Qudah, M.F., Al-Barashdi, H.S., Bakhiet, S.F., Darandari, E., Al-Asqah, S.S., Hammad, H.I., Al-Khadher, M.M., Qara, S., Al-Mutairy, S.H. and Albursan, H.I. (2022). Social Media Addictionrtphone addiction among university students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic: prevalence, relationship to academic procrastination, quality of life, gender and educational stage. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10111-10439.
Andrade, A.L.M., Enumo, S.R.F., Passos, M.A.Z., Vellozo, E.P., Schoen, T.H., Kulik, M.A., Niskier, S.R. and Vitalle, M.S.D.S. (2021). Problematic internet use, emotional problems and quality of life among adolescents. Psico-USF, 26(1), 41-51.
Aydin, M.K. and Kuş, M., (2023). Nomophobia and Social Media Addictionrtphone addiction amidst COVID-19 home confinement: the parallel mediating role of digital gaming and social media tools usage across secondary school students. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1175555.
Chen, C.Y., Lee, K.Y., Fung, X.C., Chen, J.K., Lai, Y.C., Potenza, M.N., Chang, K.C., Fang, C.Y., Pakpour, A.H. and Lin, C.Y. (2024). Problematic use of internet associates with poor quality of life via psychological distress in individuals with ADHD. Psychology Research and Behavior Management,12, 443-455.
El Abiddine, F.Z., Aljaberi, M.A., Gadelrab, H.F., Lin, C.Y. and Muhammed, A. (2022). Mediated effects of insomnia in the association between problematic social media use and subjective well-being among university students during COVID-19 pandemic. Sleep Epidemiology, 2, 100030.
Hussain, Z. And Griffiths, M.D. (2021). The associations between problematic social networking site use and sleep quality, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety and stress. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(3), 686-700.
Li, Y., Mu, W., Xie, X. And Kwok, S.Y. (2023). Network analysis of internet gaming disorder, problematic social media use, problematic Social Media Addictionrtphone use, psychological distress, and meaning in life among adolescents. Digital Health, 9, 20552076231158036.
Machado de Oliveira, M., Lucchetti, G., da Silva Ezequiel, O. And Lamas Granero Lucchetti, A. (2023). Association of Social Media Addictionrtphone use and digital addiction with mental health, quality of life, motivation and learning of medical students: a two-year follow-up study. Psychiatry, 86(3), .200-213.
Nikolic, A., Bukurov, B., Kocic, I., Vukovic, M., Ladjevic, N., Vrhovac, M., Pavlović, Z., Grujicic, J., Kisic, D. And Sipetic, S. (2023). Social Media Addictionrtphone addiction, sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1252371.
Salari, N., Zarei, H., Hosseinian-Far, A., Rasoulpoor, S., Shohaimi, S. And Mohammadi, M. (2025). The global prevalence of social media addiction among university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Public Health, 33(1), pp.223-236.
Sayili, U., Pirdal, B.Z., Kara, B., Acar, N., Camcioglu, E., Yilmaz, E., Can, G. And Erginoz, E. (2023). Internet addiction and social media addiction in medical faculty students: prevalence, related factors, and association with life satisfaction. Journal of Community Health, 48(2), 189-198.
Sümen, A. And Evgin, D. (2021). Social media addiction in high school students: a cross-sectional study examining its relationship with sleep quality and psychological problems. Child Indicators Research, 14(6), 2265-2283.
Yu, L. And Du, M. (2022). Social networking use, mental health, and quality of life of Hong Kong adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in public health, 10, 1040169.
Zhu, X., Zheng, T., Ding, L., Zhang, X., Li, Z. And Jiang, H. (2023). Exploring associations between social media addiction, social media fatigue, fear of missing out and sleep quality among university students: A cross-section study. Plos one, 18(10), 0292429.
Zhuang, J., Mou, Q., Zheng, T., Gao, F., Zhong, Y., Lu, Q., Gao, Y. And Zhao, M. (2023). A serial mediation model of social media addiction and college students’ academic engagement: the role of sleep quality and fatigue. BMC psychiatry, 23(1), 333.
