Purpose: To examine the association between problematic social media use with depression, anxiety, insomnia, and stress in a sample of young Lebanese adults.Methods: This cross-sectional study was achieved between January and May 2019; 466 out of 600 adults completed the questionnaire.Results: Higher problematic social media use was significantly associated with higher depression, anxiety, and insomnia, but not stress. Stress mediated the relation between depression, anxiety, insomnia, and problematic social media use.Practical Implications: This study showed that problematic social media use was associated with psychological disorders. Additional research is needed to identify and describe the potential causality between the use of social media and various mental health issues and the interplay between the social media network and other mental health factors.
Background
Psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia and problematic social media use are able to alter our memories and might have an impact on memory function and retrieval. More studies are needed to better understand the relationship between memory performance and mental health disorders, especially the ones that could be related to problematic social media use. The objective of this study was to evaluate any association between problematic social media use, depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia vs memory performance among a representative sample of Lebanese people.
Methods
This cross-sectional study, conducted between January and May 2019, enrolled 466 community dwelling participants using a proportionate random sample from all Lebanese governorates. The questionnaire consisted of the following measures: the Memory Awareness Rating Scale (MARS) to assesses views of memory performance, the problematic social media use scale to measure the degree of addiction to social media, the Hamilton depression rating scale and Hamilton anxiety scale to assess depression and anxiety respectively, the Beirut Distress Scale to assess stress and the Lebanese Insomnia sale to assess insomnia. The data analysis was performed using the SPSS software version 25. A linear regression was conducted, taking the memory performance scale as the dependent variable. A mediation analysis was performed to test the effect of problematic social media use on memory performance mediated by depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia.
Results
Higher problematic social media use (Beta = − 0.21) and higher anxiety (Beta = − 0.25) were significantly associated with lower memory performance. The association between problematic social media use and memory performance was partially mediated by anxiety (21.19%) but not depression, stress or insomnia.
Conclusion
Concerning problematic social media use, a clear correlation was demonstrated in this study linking it to lower memory performances. Future studies should evaluate the possible mechanisms and methods for effective awareness especially towards the younger generation.
Purpose: To assess the relationship of smoking (cigarettes or waterpipe), alcohol drinking, alexithymia, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, stress, social phobia, emotional intelligence, impulsivity, insomnia, physical health, and loneliness with problematic social media use (PSMU) in a sample of Lebanese citizens.Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 466 participants (January-May 2019).Results: Higher anxiety, alcohol use disorder, and social phobia were correlated with elevated PSMU, while older age was associated with lower PSMU. Emotional intelligence partially mediated the association between alexithymia and PSMU by 4.55%.Practical implications: Since these manifestations are preventable, spreading awareness through our schools, educational programs, and even healthcare professionals would considerably reduce the pace at which young adults are transforming into anxious and distorted individuals.
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