Health Impacts of Social Media Use Among University Undergraduates in the Eastern Region of Thailand

Abstract

Thai adolescents are higher social media users, and social media usage behavior is a significant factor related to health impacts. The objectives of this study were to examine health impacts, and factors related to health impacts from using social media among undergraduates in universities in the eastern region. The aim of this cross-sectional descriptive study. A multi-stage random sampling was used to recruit 379 adolescents from universities. Data was collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics to show frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Correlations were determined using chi-squared statistical methods and Pearson correlation coefficient tests, with a 95% confidence interval.

The results revealed that 99.8% of university students has access to social media, with 42.5% accessing social media more than 7 hours per day. Additionally, 49.7% reported a low level of health impact from social media use. Pearson correlation analysis indicated significant factors correlated with health impacts from social media use, as follows; attitude toward using social media (r=0.455, p<0.001), knowledge about the health impact of social media use (r=-0.214, p<0.001), access to social media more than had 7-8 hours per day (r=0.133, p=0.010), and the number of types of social media used (r=-0.105, p=0.041). The results showed that adolescents with Attitude, knowledge, and access to social media were significant correlated with health impacts from using social media. The findings suggested that should promote access to appropriate media, specifically regarding should promote attitude, and knowledge toward health impacts from using social media, and promote skill improving self-management for reducing health impacts from using social media.