Effects of Social Media Usage on Mental Health and Family Functioning (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: Research on teenage diseases, addictions, and excessive social media (SM) use has increased over the past 10 years. Despite the fact that family academics have emphasized increased technology use as something that is likely to have an impact on family functioning, there is little research on how social media use may affect families. OBJECTIVE Objective: This study aims to measure the effect of social media usage on mental health (MH) and family functioning (FF) where it has some objectives related to MH and FF (i.e., to measure the effects of the different platforms used on the MHS and FFS; to measure the effect of the time spent on the platforms on the MHS and FFS; to explore the types of emotions towards SM and their relationship with the MHS and FFS, and to explore the effects of SM on the MHS and FFS). METHODS Methods: An online survey consisting of 52 items including questions on demographics, amount of social media use, perceptions of specific social media platforms, mental health, and family functioning, was completed by 616 social media users between September 11 and December 3, 2020. Participants were recruited from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Kingdom (UK) and were aged over 18 years. There were no incentives offered, and participation in the survey was purely voluntary; this is why the number of participants declined in the second round. RESULTS Results: A total of 616 social media users (566 in the first round and 50 in the second round) participated in the online survey. The type of social media used, as well as the time spent on it, directly affects the MH of users. A total of 616 questionnaires were completed. Most respondents were female (384, 62.8%), and 51.7% (316) were from Saudi Arabia. Of 616 respondents, 72 (11.8%) considered themselves to suffer from poor mental health. The participants’ emotions about social media affect are different and the users who did not experience rejection were less likely to have MH problems. In addition, the type of social media used and the time spent using it both affect MHS and FFS. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: SM use influences mental health and family functioning.