Presentation Type
Thesis
Department
Psychology
Location
McClellan Hall Room 100
Description
This thesis investigates how increased screen time use affects the mental distress states of college students. With technology rapidly developing, personal devices have become increasingly popular for ownership of adolescents and college-age individuals. While social media and personal devices can be a learning tool, they can also be detrimental if used to a problematic extent. This study aims to explore levels of mental distress states at two southern universities. In addition, researchers collected screen time data to identify the potential relationship between screen time and mental distress states. Researchers intended to use these findings to demonstrate reasonable guidelines for users looking to protect themselves from the detriments of social media use. Participants reported both general and social screen time data points over an average of a given week. Then, participants responded to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale to measure levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. The Social Media Disorder Scale was used to identify levels of social media addiction. Researchers examined these measures, comparing screen time data to mental distress state scores and social media disorder levels. The findings of this study indicate that as social media use has increased among college-age students in recent years, their mental distress states and social media addiction levels have increased as well.
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Included in
Screenagers: Screen Time and Mental Health in College Students
McClellan Hall Room 100
This thesis investigates how increased screen time use affects the mental distress states of college students. With technology rapidly developing, personal devices have become increasingly popular for ownership of adolescents and college-age individuals. While social media and personal devices can be a learning tool, they can also be detrimental if used to a problematic extent. This study aims to explore levels of mental distress states at two southern universities. In addition, researchers collected screen time data to identify the potential relationship between screen time and mental distress states. Researchers intended to use these findings to demonstrate reasonable guidelines for users looking to protect themselves from the detriments of social media use. Participants reported both general and social screen time data points over an average of a given week. Then, participants responded to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale to measure levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. The Social Media Disorder Scale was used to identify levels of social media addiction. Researchers examined these measures, comparing screen time data to mental distress state scores and social media disorder levels. The findings of this study indicate that as social media use has increased among college-age students in recent years, their mental distress states and social media addiction levels have increased as well.