Social Media Addiction among Nursing Students as a Partial Mediator between Academic Social Media Use and Life Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nursing students frequently use social media for both academic engagement and social interaction; however, limited research has explored how different patterns of use influence their life satisfaction, particularly in relation to social media addiction. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of social media addiction among nursing students in the relationship between academic, social media usage, and life satisfaction.

This cross-sectional study, conducted in line with STROBE guidelines, used validated self-report questionnaires to assess social media use, addiction, life satisfaction, and problematic internet entertainment use among 298 undergraduate nursing students at the University of Al-Razi over the period from April to August 2025. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed to examine patterns and relationships among the variables.

A total of 298 nursing students participated in the study, including 128 males and 170 females, with a mean age of 21.24 ± 1.15 years. Academic use of social media was positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with social media addiction, whereas social and recreational use showed the opposite pattern. Social media addiction was negatively related to life satisfaction and partially mediated the relationship between different types of social media use and life satisfaction. Notably, entertainment-related use demonstrated the strongest association with addiction and indirectly reduced life satisfaction.

These results imply that social media addiction significantly mediates the relationship between nursing students' social media usage patterns and life satisfaction. While excessive recreational and entertainment use may harm life satisfaction through increased addiction, academic use seems to be beneficial for well-being. Encouraging thoughtful, balanced social media use may improve students' academic performance and psychological health.

The association between social media usage patterns and life satisfaction among nursing students is partially mediated by social media addiction. These results, which highlight the importance of encouraging balanced, academically focused social media use to promote student well-being, are more transparent and methodologically rigorous when STROBE recommendations are followed.