A Study on the Relationship between Social Media Usage and Depression among Young Adults

Abstract

: The present study examined the relationship between social media usage and depression among young adults. A quantitative, non-experimental correlational research design was taken. The sample consisted of 100 young adults aged 25–35 years, including 50 males and 50 females. Data were collected through a Google Form using the Social Media Usage Scale developed by Alison B. Tuck and Renee J. Thompson and the Beck Depression Inventory developed by Aaron T. Beck and colleagues. Descriptive statistics, the Shapiro– Wilk test, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and Mann–Whitney U tests were used. Social media usage had a mean score of 43.36 (SD = 20.60), depression had a mean score of 16.15 (SD = 12.88). Both variables significantly deviated from normality. A moderate positive and statistically significant association was found between social media usage and depression, rₛ = .480, p < .001. Gender differences were not statistically significant for social media usage, U = 1011.00, z = −1.648, p = .099, or depression, U = 1198.00, z = −0.359, p = .720. The results indicate that higher social media usage was associated with higher depression scores.