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A Cross-sectional Study on Patterns of Social Media Chat Usage and its Association with Psychiatric Morbidity among Nursing Students
VC01-VC06
Correspondence
Hemavathi Hamsa,
Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
E-mail: hemavathih0711@gmail.com
Introduction: The nursing students are a particularly vulnerable group based on amount of the time they spend on the internet especially with social media. There are numerous social media chatting system available and the most commonly used in our region is whatsapp therefore the present study has been carried out on WhatsApp usage.
Aim: To study the patterns of WhatsApp usage and its association with Psychiatric morbidity among the nursing students.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 nursing students who met the inclusion criteria was recruited. Levels of usage of Social Media and associated psychiatric morbidity were assessed for WhatsApp usage which was measured using Bergen’s Facebook Addiction Scale modified for WhatsApp usage. Life-satisfaction was assessed using Satisfaction with Life Scale and Self-Esteem was assessed using Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Negative emotional states like Depression, Anxiety and Stress was assessed using Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASSs). Loneliness was assessed using Differential Loneliness Scale. The results obtained were tabulated and statistically analysed using Pearson’s association Chi Square test and Spearman’s correlation test.
Results: The nursing students belonging to middle socio-economic status, from nuclear families were less lonely, having high satisfaction with life and self esteem, were more addicted to WhatsApp usage. Almost 2/3rd of the students having average academic performance interested in more creative hobbies than physical activity suffered from depression, anxiety and stress due to WhatsApp addiction.
Conclusion: WhatsApp dependence was most commonly seen among nursing students and had highly significant correlation with the associated psychiatric morbidity.