Comparing Personality Traits, Mental Health and Self-Esteem in Users and Non-Users of Social Networks

Abstract

Abstract Background: Various aspects of the psychological component have been affected by the spread of social networks and using these networks by the students. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the personality traits, mental health and self-esteem in users and non-users of social networks. Methods: This study conducted as a casual-comparative study among the descriptive designs. In this regard, 372 female high school students studying in the school year 2015 - 2016 were selected from the Instagram and Telegram users of the social networks using multi-stage cluster sampling. Self-made demographic information questionnaire for the participants, Rosenberg questionnaire for evaluating self-esteem index, Hegzako questionnaire for personality traits and Goldberg mental health questionnaire for mental health index were used in the study. Data were analyzed by chi-square, analysis of variance and Bonferroni test. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between users and non-users groups in terms of openness personality component (P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in four components of mental health (P < 0.01). There was also a significant difference for self-esteem index between two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of this study emphasize the attention to psychological factors in planning of preventive interventions.