The Prevalence of Addiction to Social Networking Sites and Its Impact on Well-Being among Students of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Abstract

The emergence of Social Networking Sites (SNS) has been changing many aspects of the students’ daily activities positively. But, inappropriate use of social networking sites may have negative effects like Social Networking Sites Addiction (SNSA) and disturbance of psychological and social well-being. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of SNSA and its impact on well-being among Addis Ababa University, Main Campus students. A cross-sectional research design was employed to collect and analyse data for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select participants from the colleges. Two hundred nineteen (290) samples (141 males and 132 females) were selected from the total 1,143 3rd year students in the Campus. A standardized and pilot tested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics such as percentage and frequency, independent samples t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation coefficient and linear regression were employed to analyse the data. The finding revealed that majority of the respondents was at the age of 21 - 25. All of the participants included in the analysis were a member of at least one SNS and most of them access SNS several times per day. According to the findings, 3.3% of participants were severely addicted to SNS and there is no gender difference in SNSA. The findings also showed that there was a statistically significant negative correlation between SNSA and both Psychological and Social Well-being. Moreover, recommendations were drawn based on the findings of the study.

Keywords: Addiction, Prevalence, Social Networking Sites, Well-being

DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/95-01

Publication date: January 31^st 2021