Abstract
Research shows that use of social network sites is associated with loneliness and this may be amplified in tertiary students by their transition from home life, especially if they struggle to integrate with peers. The buffering effects of social support may offer a solution and the online dimension may offer a suitable outlet for lonely and isolated students. In this study, N = 111 university students, aged 18-40, completed a frequency assessment of Instagram and WhatsApp, the Spanish version of the UCLA loneliness scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Social Support in an online survey. The statistical analysis was completed by Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS 25.0. The construct validity of social network sites was established by good factor loadings for WhatsApp and Instagram, but Facebook was excluded as it did not load adequately on to the latent measurement model, in keeping with the diminishing trend for Facebook use in young students. Loneliness emerged as pivotal in a mediation model, and online social support from friends/significant others, emerged as salient in the predictive model in contrast to family. However, these associations may not have the same advantageous weight for mature students given the observed negative associations with age. Results may have implications for policy and planning through highlighting the psychological variables that are operative in the dynamics of integration, retention, and adjustment to tertiary level experience.
Highlights
Social media continues to grow, and human beings seem to be more connected to each other currently than ever before
The scale for social network sites (SNS) consists of two short items, which can lead to low alpha (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011)
The two sources of perceived social support, friends-significant others and family are significantly related to SNS use and loneliness
Summary
Social media continues to grow, and human beings seem to be more connected to each other currently than ever before. Young people are continually online and connected to their social network sites (SNS), and they are the most avid users (Alzougool, 2018; Cohen et al, 2018). A study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 91% of smartphones owners, aged 18-29, used SNS compared with 55% of those 50 and older (Smith, 2015). Loneliness and lack of perceived social support are important factors for university students who face new challenges and may be geographically distant from home (Arnett et al, 2014; Diehl et al, 2018). A study conducted by Razavi (2021) examined gender differences on the effect of the use of virtual social network sites on academic performance. Academic performance is an important life domain for the
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