ABSTRACT

Objective: This study’s objectives were two-fold. First, it examined the direct relationship between social media overload and academic performance. Second, it analyzed the mediating role of anxiety between social media overload and the academic performance of medical students.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Department of Medical Education of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Ameer-ud-Din (PGMI) Medical College, Lahore, Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore and Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical and Dental College Lahore, Pakistan from June 2021 to January 2022.
Methods: Data from 259 medical students were collected using a convenience sampling technique through self-administered questionnaires. The study included medical students from the second to final year of MBBS.
Results: Hayes PROCESS Macro analysis in SPSS showed that social media overload and academic performance were related to one another (β=-0.198, p<0.05) which had significance in statistics. Moreover, mediation analysis revealed a statistically significant and partial mediating role of anxiety between social media overload and academic performance (Indirect Effect = -.0734, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Findings revealed that social media overload directly influenced the academic performance of medical students. Additionally, anxiety as a mediator negatively impacted the relationship between social media overload and academic performance.

Keywords: Academic Performance, Anxiety, Individual Stressors, Medical Students.

How to cite this: Ather MA, Alam RS, Bokhari SQ, Butt A. Examining the Impact of Social Media Overload on the Academic Performance of Medical Students. Life and Science. 2024; 5(2): 160-165. doi: http://doi.org/10.37185/LnS.1.1.446