IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION ON ANXIETY AND SLEEP DISTURBANCES IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION

Abstract

Background: Excessive social media use has emerged as an important behavioral concern associated with adverse mental health outcomes, particularly anxiety and sleep disturbances. However, evidence regarding its impact among adults with clinically diagnosed depression remains limited. Objective: To evaluate the association between social media addiction, anxiety severity, and sleep disturbances among patients with depressive episodes. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional observational study included 48 adults (18–45 years) diagnosed with depressive episodes (ICD-10 F32). Daily social media use was recorded in hours, anxiety was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, and sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Pearson's correlation, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analyses were performed, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. Results: Participants had a mean age of 28.9±8.2 years, and 54.2% were female. The mean daily social media use was 6.31±3.19 hours, mean GAD-7 score was 11.79±5.06, and mean PSQI score was 11.08±4.85. Daily social media use showed strong positive correlations with anxiety (r=0.993, p<0.001) and poor sleep quality (r=0.990, p<0.001). Anxiety was also strongly correlated with sleep disturbance (r=0.992, p<0.001). Patients with severe depression had significantly greater social media use, higher anxiety scores, and poorer sleep quality than those with mild or moderate depression (p<0.001). Multiple linear regression demonstrated that both daily social media use (β=0.472, p=0.049) and anxiety (β=0.656, p<0.001) independently predicted poor sleep quality, explaining 98.5% of the variance in PSQI scores. Conclusion: Excessive social media use is strongly associated with increased anxiety and impaired sleep quality in adults with depression. Social media use independently predicts sleep disturbances beyond the effects of anxiety, suggesting that assessment and management of problematic social media use should be incorporated into comprehensive psychiatric care for patients with depressive disorders.