RESEARCH ARTICLE
Problematic Social Media Use and Academic Performance among University Students: An Evaluation from The Middle East
Ahmed Alhusban1, 2, *, Thabet Mismar3, Abdalla Al Husban4, Karem H. Alzoubi1, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187443462207050
Publisher ID: e187443462207050
DOI: 10.2174/18744346-v16-e2207050
Article History:
Received Date: 7/1/2022Revision Received Date: 9/3/2022
Acceptance Date: 25/3/2022
Electronic publication date: 30/08/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
The widespread use of social media applications generated a problematic behavior of excessive and inappropriate use that has been associated with mental health problems. Available data assessed this behavior using different surrogate markers in certain university majors. This study aims to assess the effect of this behavior on academic performance, using a validated tool, across different majors.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study that randomly recruited university students from three Middle Eastern countries. using an online survey. The study included 277 participants with an average age of 21.53±2.1 years. The problematic social media use (PSMU) was evaluated using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and academic performance was evaluated using the GPA. Data regarding the demographics and the characteristic of social media use were collected.
Results:
PMSU was identified as an independent predictor of academic performance. The low academic performance group was more likely to use social media applications during the night, which negatively affected the ability to wake up the next day and be ready for exams.
Conclusion:
There is a need for a more large-scale systematic evaluation of the extent of PSMU and its effect on academic performance among university students at both the regional and international levels. These analyses will help in building effective interventions to reduce the impact of PSMU on university students.
