Correlation Between Social Media Addiction and Mental Health Issues: A Case Study of Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.2026629Keywords:
Social Media Addiction, Mental Health, Counselling ImplicationsAbstract
This study assessed the Relationship between Social Media Addiction and Mental Health Among Students of Federal College of Education, Bichi, Kano State, Nigeria with Implication for Counselling. Utilizing a descriptive survey design, data were collected from 365 students through simple random sampling. The Social Media Addiction and Mental Health Problem Questionnaire (SMAMHPQ), a researcher-developed instrument with strong reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.85) was used to measure demographic variables, social media addiction, and mental health status. Results revealed that 71% of students were classified as addicted to social media, while 54% reported mental health problems. WhatsApp (31%) was identified as the most frequently used platform, followed by Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Female students showed significantly higher social media addiction scores (p = .010) and mental health problem scores (p = .028) than males, whereas age did not significantly influence these outcomes. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.859, p = .000) existed between social media addiction and mental health problems. These findings point significant Counselling implications, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions that address social media addiction as well as mental health challenges with particular attention to gender-sensitive approaches. Counselling professionals are urged to facilitate coping strategies, resilience building, and psychoeducation to support students’ psychological wellbeing in the context of pervasive social media use.
References
Allahverdi, F. Z. (2022). Relationship between perceived social media addiction and social media applications frequency usage among university students. Psychology in the Schools, 59(6), 1075-1087. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22662
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew research center, 31(2018), 1673-1689.
Aparicio-Martínez, P., Ruiz-Rubio, M., Perea-Moreno, A. J., Martínez-Jiménez, M. P., Pagliari, C., Redel- Macías, M. D., & Vaquero-Abellán, M. (2020). Gender differences in the addiction to social networks in the Southern Spanish university students. Telematics and Informatics, 46, 101304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.101304
Awopetu, R. G., Olabimitan, B. A., Kolawole, S. O., Newton, R. T., Odok, A. A., & Awopetu, A. V. (2024). The systematic review of social media addiction and mental health of Nigerian university students: The good, the bad and the ugly. European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, 2(1), 767-788.
Awopetu, R. G., Olabimitan, B. A., Kolawole, S. O., Newton, R. T., Odok, A. A., & Awopetu, A. V. (2024). The systematic review of social media addiction and mental health of Nigerian university students: The good, the bad and the ugly. European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, 2(1), 767-788. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59324/ejtas.2024.2(1).69
Ayinde, O. O., Akinnuoye, E. R., Molodynski, A., Battrick, O., & Gureje, O. (2022). A descriptive study of mental health and burnout among Nigerian medical students. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(6), 1223-1231. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640211057706
Cen, S., Zhao, M., Wang, F., & Tang, L. (2025). Gender differences in the relationship between mental health and academic performance among undergraduate students at a medical school in Shanghai: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 731. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21697-5
Choudhury, M., & Ali, A. (2020). Social media addiction among youth: A gender comparison. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(3), 740-748.
Chukwudum, NA, Osmond O.O and Ezinne O.O (2024) Prevalence of Social Media Addiction and its predictive role on Mental health of Undergraduates in a Nigerian University. Nigerian Journal of Psychology, Volume 24, No.
Clarkin, J., Heywood, C., & Robinson, L. J. (2024). Are younger people more accurate at identifying mental health disorders, recommending help appropriately, and do they show lower mental health stigma than older people?: Age differences in mental health disorder recognition. Mental Health & Prevention, 36, 200361. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2024.200361
Cunningham, S., Hudson, C. C., & Harkness, K. (2021). Social media and depression symptoms: a meta-analysis. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 49(2), 241-253 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00715-7
Digital Global Overview Report (2023). DataReportal. (2023). Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report on October 8, 2023.
Feng, T., Wang, B., Mi, M., Ren, L., Wu, L., Wang, H., ... & Wang, X. (2025). The relationships between mental health and social media addiction, and between academic burnout and social media addiction among Chinese college students: A network analysis. Heliyon, 11(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41869
Galderisi, S., Heinz, A., Kastrup, M., Beezhold, J., & Sartorius, N. (2015). Toward a new definition of mental health. World psychiatry, 14(2), 231. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20231
Gazi, M. A., Çetin, M., & Çakı, C. (2017). The research of the level of social media addiction of university students. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 3(2), 549-559. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24289/ijsser.279705
Islam, M., & Sikder, M. (2020). Influence of Social Media Addiction on Interpersonal Relationships, Depression and Stress among Undergraduates in Ekiti State. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 7(1).
K Damodaran, D., & Paul, V. (2016). Gender and Mental Health: Are There Differences?. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 3(2), 190-199. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25215/0302.133
Keles, B., McCrae, N., & Grealish, A. (2019). A systematic review: The influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851
Li, W., Lin, X., Wu, J., Xue, W., & Zhang, J. (2021, December). Impacts social media have on young generation and older adults. In 2021 4th international conference on humanities education and social sciences (ICHESS 2021) (pp. 294-300). Atlantis Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211220.051
Massari, L. (2010). Analysis of MySpace user profiles. Information Systems Frontiers, 12(4), 361- 367.Nwafor, C. E., Ugwu, P. C., Okoye, C. A., & Ofoma, B. E. (2023). Social Media Addiction Moderates the Relationship between Interpersonal Isolation and Suicidal Ideation among Undergraduates. Journal of Psychology and Allied Disciplines, 2(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-009-9206-8
Oche, O. M., Gana, G. J., Yahaya, M., Khalid, I., & Sambo, M. L. A. (2019). Prevalence and effect of social media on sleep among students of higher institutions in Sokoto Metropolis, Sokoto State Nigeria. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research| November-December, 9(6).
Ogunleye, O., & Akinola, O. (2020). The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health in Nigerian Young Adults: Policy and Educational Implications. Amamihe: Journal of Applied Philosophy, 23(1), Imo State University.
Onyeizu, A. O., Nancy, N. O., Samuel, O., Binta, O. D., & Michelle, N. (2022). Social media addiction on mental health of undergraduates. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(S6), 2524–2542. https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6nS6.9799 DOI: https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6nS6.9799
Singh, R., & Mishra, R. (2021). A study on age and gender difference in mental health of young adults. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 10(2), 2881-2891. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2021.1002.320
Tambuwal, A. A., Haliru, S., & Al-Ameen, S. (2025). Assessing Social Media Usage Patterns Among Undergraduate Students in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Information Systems & Technology Research, 13(2), 42-46. Available at: World Health Organization. (2005) Mental health atlas 2005. Department of Mental Health, & Substance Abuse. World Health Organization.
Zaw, C. C., & Azenal, N. A. (2021). Association between social media addiction and mental health among International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) undergraduate nursing students. INTERNATIONAL journal of care scholars, 4(Supp1), 32-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31436/ijcs.v4iSupp1.216
