Abstract
Excessive social media use is a pervasive issue among young adults in the USA. This poses risk for several deleterious health outcomes considering excessive social media use has been linked to elements supporting addiction criteria: salience, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse, and mood modification. Given earlier yet limited data on social media use patterns among Hispanic college students, this study aimed to assess sociodemographic and psychological constructs in relation to social media use and addiction. Participants (n = 958; Mage = 20.72 years, SD = 3.62; 74.5% female) were recruited via SONA systems recruitment platform at a Hispanic Serving Institution on the border of the U.S. and Mexico. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, weekly social media use frequency, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Participants reported using social media an average of 20 h a week (SD = 18.57). Two linear regressions assessed weekly social media use and social media addiction. Weekly social media use was positively associated with anxiety and negatively associated with age and household income. Social media addiction was positively associated with stress and negatively associated with age, smaller household size, and self-esteem. Border region Hispanic college student social media use appears excessive; targets for prevention and intervention of excessive social media use include younger individuals, those of lower socioeconomic status and those from smaller household sizes. Anxiety and stress seem salient psychosocial constructs to include and explore further prospectively.
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This work was supported by the RISE Research Scholars Program (R25 GM 069621). The authors would like to acknowledge all past and current members of the Prevention and Treatment in Clinical Health laboratory for their assistance with this study.
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Mathis, P., Lerma, M., Sandoval, K. et al. Examining the Role of Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Constructs in Excessive Social Media Use Among Hispanic College Students. J. technol. behav. sci. 7, 160–167 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-021-00231-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-021-00231-5