Revista de prevención y atención de la salud

Abstracto

Social media addiction is linked to anxiety among students at Kyaukse University, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

Kyaw Sann wins

Nowadays, social media is one of the essential tools of people, especially young people and teenagers. Consequently, there are many controversial issues about the advantages and disadvantages of social media. In Myanmar, the rate of mobile phone and Internet users is increasing nowadays. This is a cross-sectional study conducted on college students at Kyaukse University from June to November 2015. In total, 400 students aged 16-23 were randomly selected and interviewed with pre-tested structured questionnaires. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of social media addiction (SNA) and the prevalence of anxiety. In addition, this study also found out the relationship between SNA and anxiety among students. Among the students, 110 students (27.5%) were addicted to SNA and 146 students (36.5%) suffered from anxiety. There is a significant association between SNA and anxiety. Among social media addicted users, 59.1% suffer from anxiety (χ²=33.408, p <0.001). Most of the students who use social media are addicted to it. Students who are addicted to social media, with a duration of social media use of more than 3 years, who use social media for more than 4 hours a day, who use Facebook and Google, suffer from anxiety. According to the findings of this study, there is a positive association between social media and anxiety. Therefore, parents, teachers and other authorities should be aware and involved in checking and monitoring students' internet usage. In addition, similar research should be encouraged in different populations and age groups to explore other side effects of social media.