The Relationship between Social Media and the Increase in Mental Health Problems

Bibliographic Data

ID15510083
AuthorsHasan Beyari (0000-0003-0943-0317, Umm al-Qura University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume20
Issue3
Pages2383-2383
Publication date2023-01-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph20032383
PMID36767749
OpenAlexW4318589309
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited11

Social media has become an indispensable aspect of young people's digital interactions, as they use it mostly for entertainment and communication purposes. Consequently, it has the potential to have both positive and negative effects on them. Deterioration in mental health is one of the side effects stemming from social media overuse. This study investigates the relationship between social media and the increase in mental health problems in Saudi Arabia. The population considered for analysis includes young people from Saudi Arabia, with a sample size of 385. A closed-ended survey questionnaire was used to collect data on different social media features and criteria. Using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), the researcher analyzed data to compare the effect of different social media features on mental health. The social media features included in this paper are private chats and calls, group chats and calls, browsing posts, games, media sharing, adverts, likes/comments/followers, and pages. The researcher adopted entertainment, information, social interaction, privacy, esteem, and communication as the criteria in the AHP process. Among these criteria, the study found that entertainment was the most significant, while privacy was the least significant. Findings suggested that likes, comments, and followers were the biggest contributors to poor mental health (total utility = 56.24). The least effective feature was 'games' (total utility = 2.56). The researcher recommends that social media users be cautious when interacting with social media features, especially likes, comments, followers, media, and posts, because of their significant effect on mental health

Advertising · Business · Entertainment · Internet privacy · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Sample (material · Social media · World Wide Web · Applied Psychology · Computer Science · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology

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