ASSOCIATION OF SYMPTOMATOLOGIC DEPRESSION WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is a mental disorder that affects almost 2.3% of Malaysians and is more prevalent among Malaysian students. "Websites and applications that are utilized for interacting with others and their increasing prevalence have suggestive that people are obsessed to it" is the definition of social media. A strong correlation has been made between depression and social media addiction but there was a lack of such specific studies in Malaysia. This study is aimed at identifying the association of social media addiction with depression among university students in Malaysia. Methods:This research was conducted on Malaysian undergraduate and postgraduate students using an online questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic characteristics and two validated questionnaires of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-10) and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Results:A total of 381 responses were analyzed and the Pearson Correlation was found to be (r = 0.671) with a p-value of < 0.001 which suggests a strong positive and statistically significant correlation between social media addiction and depression. Conclusion:In summary, an increase in addiction to social media causes depression.