Association between social media use and students’ academic performance through family bonding and collective learning: The moderating role of mental well-being

The advent of the digital age represents a transformative era in which technology, primarily social media platforms, has become an integral part of the daily lives of individuals worldwide. Students are the most prolific users of social media, utilizing these platforms for a variety of purposes, including communication, information sharing, entertainment, and social networking. This study evaluated the connection between student social media use and academic performance through family bonding and collaborative learning. This research also explores how mental wellbeing moderates the link between students’ family bonding, collaborative learning, and academic performance. This research article analyzes a sample of 330 university students from the public and private sectors and tests the proposed hypothesized relationships. The study used the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) methodological approach for evaluating proposed parameters. The findings indicated that social media use positively correlated with students’ academic performance. Second, family bonding and collaborative learning significantly moderated the association between students’ academic performance and social media use. Finally, mental well-being significantly moderated the connection between students’ collaborative learning, family bonding, and academic performance. This study’s findings contribute to the knowledge of global education with valuable insights into students’ psychological well-being and academic performance. In theory, the current research advances the scientific understanding of education by assessing social media usage’s effects on students’ academic performance and psychological well-being.