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Background: Previous researches on the association between the use of social media and depression have yielded conflicting results. As some studies reported that social media use may reduce depression, whereas other studies observed that frequent use of social media may be associated with depressive symptoms. Objectives: To assess the relation between overuse of social media and depression as well as identifying other risk factors related to depression among medical students. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional, comparative study was carried out among a representative random sample of male and female medical students in King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Anonymous self-administrated questionnaire was utilized for data collection. It consists of sociodemographic characteristics, details of social media use and PHQ-9 instrument to assessdepression among the participants. Data were collected through sending the questionnaire online through a specific WhatsApp group for the students. Results: Out of 297 students invited to participate in the study, 239 responded by completing the questionnaire giving a response rate of 80.5%. Their age ranged between 19 and 26 years with a mean±SD of 21.4±1.5 years. Depression was reported among 67.4% of them, based on PHQ-9 instrument; it was mild among 41.8% and severe among 9.6% of the participants. Depression was more reported among female than male students (74.1% versus 63.6%), p=0.034. The highest age was reported among students with no depression (22.1±1.3 years) whereas the lowest age was observed among those with moderate depression (21.3±1.7 years), p=0.018. Histories of having family problems (p<0.001), financial problems (p=0.001), study problems (p<0.001), physical or emotional abuse (p<0.001), psychiatric problems (p=0.007) and family history of depression (p=0.047) were significantly associated with depression and its severity among the participants. Conclusion:Depression is a common hidden health problemamong medical students in Saudi Arabia. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was not significantly associated with pattern of using social media.

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