Social Media Usage, Working Memory, and Depression: An Experimental Investigation among University Students

Abstract

Social media usage (SMU) and its relationship with working memory (WM) and academic performance remain unclear, and there is a lack of experimental evidence. We investigated whether WM mediates the association between SMU and academic performance, including the roles of depression, anxiety, and disordered social media use as possible contributors. A sample of 118 undergraduate students aged 19 to 28 from Saudi Arabia performed a WM test twice; for one assessment, participants were required to interact with social media before the test, and the other test was preceded by painting online. We also measured grade point average (GPA), habitual social media usage (SMU), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and disordered social media usage (SMDS). There was no significant difference between WM scores in the social media condition compared to the control condition, but when solely considering at least moderately depressed participants, social media use predicted significantly more errors in the social media condition compared to the control condition. Furthermore, higher SMDS scores were significantly predicted by higher PHQ-9 scores and more hours of habitual SMU. GPA scores were not predicted by WM performance or SMU. The present study is one of the first experimental attempts to compare the relationship between SMU and WM and highlights the priming effect of depression on the relationship between SMU and WM.

Influence of Social Media Usage, Academic Performance and Working Memory among Undergraduate Students

“…Our studies presented the prevalence of social media addiction and its effect on academic performance and working memory among undergraduate students. Utilization of social media differed based on the characteristics of the participants such as age, gender, and geography [34]. Meng et al, [35] reported an increasing trend in global social media addiction that can be observed among the participants in this study, as most of the students were international students.…”

“…Students were scored based as follows; strongly agree (5), agree (4), neutral (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1). The criteria for rating the performance were excellent (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), good (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), moderate (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24), poor (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16), and failing (0-8).…”

Social Media and Working Memory - A Review

“…With these considerations in mind, in a study by Almarzouki et al, the relationship between compulsive social media use and educational outcomes was examined, focusing on Working Memory (WM) and accounting for depression, anxiety, and inappropriate use. Among moderately depressed adults, social media use predicted more errors compared to control conditions, though WM scores did not significantly differ 55 . Higher Social Media Disposition Scale (SMDS) scores correlated with prolonged social media use and increased depression, but WM performance and social media use did not predict Grade Point Average (GPA) scores.…”

“…Social media's impact on cognitive function 9 , educational attainment 10 , and Researchers, families, and health professionals are all interested in mental health, particularly among youths 11 . However, the majority of the research lacks scientific support and is founded on correlation and self-reporting studies 12 .…”

Transfer Effect of Cognitive Advantages in Visual Working Memory Capacity: Evidence from Elite Football Players

“…There are many theoretical models of working memory, such as cognitive and neurobiological models [ 8 ] and the cognitive resource fixed model [ 9 ]. The most authoritative theoretical model of working memory is Baddeley’s [ 5 ], which has led to controversies on the influencing factors, processing, and training methods [ 10 ].…”