THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION, SLEEP QUALITY, STRESS LEVELS, AND MENTAL HEALTH ON ACADEMIC

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between social media addiction, sleep quality, stress level, and mental health in relation to academic achievement in 450 young adults who were aged between 18 and 25 years old using a quantitative, cross-sectional design. Validated instruments such as the Social Media Addiction Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Perceived Stress Scale and DASS-21 were used. Descriptive results showed that 56.9% of them used more than five hours per day on social media and the mean score of addiction was 37.82 (SD=6.11). Multiple regression analysis showed that the variables of social media addiction (β = -0.36, p < 0.001), sleep quality (β = -0.28, p < 0.001), stress (β = -0.22, p = 0.005), and mental health (β = -0.17, p = 0.016) were significant predictors of academic performance (R² = 0.42). Mediation analysis supported the significant mediating effect of both sleep and stress on the association of social media addiction and GPA (indirect effect = -0.13, p = 0.004). Furthermore, mental health moderated the relationship between stress and academic outcomes (β = -0.11, p = 0.017). The study highlights the indirect effects of excessive use of social media on undermining academic success due to psychological and physiological mechanisms. Increasing digital literacy skills, encouraging healthy sleep habits and increasing mental health help can offset these negative consequences.