Social Media Usage and Depressive Symptoms in University Students: A Correlation Study
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Traditionally Depression is considered to be common among people, yet it is often unrecognized and unnoticed in the general population. The technological revolution has brought advancement in communication across the globe and has given rise to social media platforms. However, it has both positive and negative impacts on the life of individuals as indicated by many research studies. The present research study aimed to know the association between depression and social media usage among university students. The study was carried out with 130 university students (n= 65 Men; n= 65 Women) from two public sector universities. The study data was collected using a participant information form, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D), and Social Networking Usage Questionnaire (SNUQ). The data was analyzed using SPSS. It was found that use of social media was significantly associated with and predicted depressive symptoms among students. It was concluded that social media usage has a potential role in developing depression among students.
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