The Impact of Social Media Addiction on Self-Esteem, Attention Span, Sleep Quality and Phubbing Behavior

Abstract

Communication through the social networks is integrated into the lives of people regardless of their age, for communication, leisure, and information purposes. However, a recent shift in trend has proven that the social tool is causing harm to relationships, well-being, and productivity. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that social media has on self-esteem, attention span, sleep quality, and phubbing behavior of 316 participants of both sexes. While conducting the study, correlation analysis was done using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Mind-Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Phubbing Scale (PS). They found there was inverse relationship between social media addiction and self-esteem (r=-. 45, p<0. 001) and sleep quality (r=-. 29, p<0. 001) which mean that more time spent on social media leads to poor self-esteem and poor quality of sleep. Also, it was found that there was a significant positive correlation between social media addiction levels and mind-wandering, F (179) = 34, P <0. 001; a positive correlation was also found between social media addiction and phubbing behavior F (179) = 51, P <0. 001 indicating that high social media use equals high phubbing. It is therefore worth stressing that the study shows the possible mental health consequences of over-reliance on SNSs and the necessity to develop evidence-based strategies to address these detrimental effects.