The Relationship Between Social Media Addiction and Mental Fatigue Levels in Faculty of Health Sciences Students: A Descriptive and Relational Study

Background: Excessive and problematic use of social media can lead to addiction. Social media addiction results in mental fatigue as well as physical and psychosocial problems.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the level of social media addiction among university students studying health sciences, identify the factors affecting it, and examine its predictive effect on mental fatigue.

Methods: This study employed a descriptive qualitative and relational research design. Students from the Nursing and Midwifery Departments of the Faculty of Health Sciences who volunteered to participate and were present at the faculty during the study were included. Data were collected using the Individual Introduction Form, Social Media Addiction Scale, and Chalder Fatigue Scale. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Independent Sample T-Test, Pearson Correlation, and Multiple Regression Analysis were used for data analysis.

Results: The mean age of the students was 20.53 ± 1.94 years; 84.4% were female, and 66.5% were nursing students. On average, nursing and midwifery students used social media for 4.76 ± 2.50 hours per day. The mean Social Media Addiction Scale score was 93.69 ± 26.36, and the mean Chalder Fatigue Scale score was 13.89 ± 5.78. Among the subdimensions of social media addiction, an increase of 0.063 units in the mood score average and an increase of 0.044 units in the conflict subdimension raised the mental fatigue score by one unit.

Conclusion: Students’ social media addiction was mild. It was determined that they experienced moderate physical fatigue and low mental fatigue. Additionally, as social media addiction increased, mental fatigue also increased.