The Effects of Social Media on the Mental Health of College Students

Abstract

Background: Interpersonal relationships have extended into social media, providing more ways to communicate with others, find new interests, and get inspired. College students are the largest demographic of social media users. With mental health concerns on the rise among college students, it is important to understand where the connection is, if there is at all. Objective: This study aims to research how college students are affected by their social media use to highlight potential ways to change habits and treat concerns surrounding mental health. Design and Method: This research was done through a thorough review of literature from the Purchase College Library database. The articles collected are from 2012 to 2021. The research for this capstone was qualitative, however, the studies used were qualitative and quantitative. A review of results from 10 studies was done to answer the research question. The main research questions are: How has social media affected the mental health of college students? Why do college students use social media? Does the frequency of social media use influence mental health? How likely are college students to seek mental health intervention after social media use? Results: The significance of this study is that most college students use social media, and some are still navigating their mental health. Research is essential to investigate the connection between mental health and social media. Conclusions: College students use social media for various reasons. They can turn to social media for emotional support, suppression, or just to interact with other people. The findings suggest that social media does not have a direct effect on college students with existing mental health concerns, nor does it cause mental health problems to arise. The findings also suggest that students are more likely to seek mental health intervention when seeing posts about mental health or posting about it themselves. Keywords: social media, mental health, college students, emotion regulation, intention, frequency, likeliness to seek professional help