Publication: Associations between types of social media use, social anxiety & loneliness among USM students
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025
Authors
Subramaniam, Tinesh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The extensive social media use among higher education students has concerns surrounding its influence on their social anxiety and loneliness. The general objective is to study the impact of social media use types (consumption, image, comparison, & belief-based) on mental health outcomes of USM Health Campus undergraduate students. A quantitative, cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 85 full-time undergraduate students from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Health Campus. Questionnaires such as Social Media Use Scale (SMUS), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), and UCLA Loneliness Scale 3rd edition were used to collect data from the study’s sample. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics such as Pearson's correlations & multiple regression was run and findings were reported. Results showed that consumption use type had a significant positive correlation with social anxiety and significantly predicted social anxiety. This suggests higher consumption levels are associated with elevated social anxiety. Conversely, comparison use type had a significant positive correlation with loneliness & significantly predicted. Image and Belief-based use didn’t significantly predict either outcome or had any significant correlations with the dependant variables. The study advocates for targeted psychoeducational interventions focusing on reducing maladaptive consumption and comparison behaviors to foster healthier social media use and mitigate adverse effects on student mental health.
Description
Keywords
social media , social anxiety