IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SLEEP PATTERNS, ACEDEMIC PROGRESS AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT SUPERIOR UNIVERSITY LAHORE, PAKISTAN: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background:

There is a growing concern regarding the negative effects that social media can have on people's sleep, academic performance, and mental health due on the increased use of social media by a large number of medical students throughout the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate the links between these factors for Pakistani medical students at Superior University Lahore. Objective: To determine the relationship between the amounts of time spent using social media and the amount of sleep that medical students receive. To determine how social media influences sleep and therefore, how sleep affects both the academic performance and mental health of medical students.

Methodology:

A total of 260 medical students were surveyed using a convenience sample for a descriptive, cross-sectional study. A structured online questionnaire was designed and used to collect data regarding the frequency and type of use of social media, the total time and quality of sleep, an individual's perceived impact of social media use on his/her academic performance, and several other factors related to the individual's mental health. A statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS v. 27 with descriptive statistics and a Pearson correlation.

Results:

indicated that social network sites (SN) usage contributes to poor sleep quality, significantly (p=0.034), which suggests a negative impact of increasing amounts of time spent on SNs when they are used at night. Also, no statistically significant associations were noted between students' social networking site (SNS) use and their grade point averages (GPA) when using the Cohen approach (p=0.935) or mental health status (p=0.657). Descriptive statistics indicated that there were significantly more females in the sample than males, and the majority of the sample was aged 19-26, indicating a higher level of social network engagement within this particular age group.

Conclusion:

Social networking sites (SNS) are negatively impacting the level of quality of sleep that medical students experience through excessive use of social networking sites, specifically immediately preceding their bedtime, and this may lead to fatigue among medical students. However, there is no clear support to indicate that the excessive use of social network sites is detrimental to medical students' academic success or to their mental health. It will be helpful if educational institutions promote digital hygiene among their students in order to create a culture of increased awareness of the importance of limiting screen time for their overall health and academic success.