Impact of Excessive Use of Social Media on Psychological Wellbeing among Undergraduate University Students: Role of Academic Procrastination

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of excessive use of social media on psychological wellbeing among undergraduate university students with focus on the mediating role of academic procrastination. Correlational research was conducted, where participants were provided informed consent and completed a demographic questionnaire along with three scales: Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Psychological Wellbeing Scale, and General Procrastination Scale. The research was conducted on 302 undergraduate university students (126 males and 176 females) aged 18 to 26 years (M = 20.95, SD = 1.78) recruited from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Correlational analysis indicated a significant negative correlation (r = -.62, p < .01) between excessive use of social media and psychological wellbeing among undergraduate university students. Mediation analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018). The indirect effect appeared to be highly significant (β = -.13, p < .001), indicating that academic procrastination total effect. The direct effect was also significant (β = -.45, p < .001), suggesting that academic procrastination partially explained the negative impact of excessive usage of social media on psychological wellbeing. The study findings are limited by the cross-sectional design, small sample, and self-reported data. Hence, future studies should use larger, diverse samples and longitudinal or experimental designs.