Abstract
Social media is becoming a more ubiquitous method of communication and interaction in society than in the past, especially among college students. This study seeks to understand how content related to themes of Friends, Couples, Personal Achievement, and Accidents on social media contributes to depressive feelings among currently enrolled students. In an electronic survey, 92 participants (n = 92) responded to 9 questions from the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in reaction to Facebook posts under the themes of Friends, Couples, Personal Achievement, and Accidents. A repeated-measures ANOVA was used and demonstrated that social media posts do affect feelings of sadness and discontent, especially in the thematic areas of Couples and Personal Achievement for college students. Statistical analysis also revealed that the thematic areas of Friends and Accidents were as similar in their depressive effects as the thematic areas of Couples and Personal Achievement. Results advocate that more research is needed on how specific themes of social-media posts affect depression levels in college students.
Recommended Citation
(2018)
"Social Media Use Among College Students and its Contribution to Depression,"
Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology: Vol. 13:
Iss.
1, Article 9.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/intuition/vol13/iss1/9