SOCIALANXIETY AND SOCIAL-MEDIAADDICTION IN MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Abstract

Background: Social anxiety is experience of irrational fear in various social situations. People with social anxiety tend to avoid from a particular situation as they fear being judged. Social media addiction refers to excessive urge in using various social media platforms and unable to withhold their use which has a negative effect on an individual's life. AIM: This study aims at assessing the social anxiety symptoms and to correlate between social anxiety and social media addiction among medical undergraduates. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study with sample population consisting of medical undergraduates of a tertiary care hospital. Tools used in this study are a semi structured questionnaire for socio demographic details, Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and Social Media Addiction Scale-Student Form (SMAS-SF). Results: 100 medical undergraduates were included in this study. The sample consists of 63% males and 37% females with mean age of 19.85 years. Mean LSAS score is 45.03 (21.501) and mean SMAS-SF is 72.56 (16.754). Pearson's correlation (0.312) between LSAS scores and SMAS-SF scores is statistically signicant. Conclusion: This study shows a positively signicant correlation between symptoms of social anxiety and social media addiction among the medical undergraduates