Social Media Addiction, Psychological Distress and Self-esteem: A Correlation Study

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of all our lives. It helps us in seeking education, entertainment, and job opportunities. This paper aims to find the correlation between social media addiction, psychological distress, and self–esteem. The study aims to determine the levels of social media addiction, psychological distress, and self–esteem among young adults. A total of 220 data were collected, and 214 participants passed the inclusion criteria. The data was collected among young adults from the age group of 18 to 24 years. Social media addiction scale, psychological distress scale (DASS 21) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale were used to collect the data from the participants—convenient and snowball sampling techniques to collect the data. The data was collected and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test was conducted to determine the differential relationship between psychological distress and self-esteem on various levels of social media addiction. The results of the study show that social media addictions significantly differ in psychological distress, and there was no significant difference between social media addiction and self-esteem.