Mental Health Impacts of Using Social Media Among University of Halabja Students (Kurdistan Region of Iraq)

In the recent years, the use of social media has increased. Social media is the fastest way to reach information and make online communication. According to worldwide digital population- Internet - Statista on Jul 26, 2022, there are five billion internet users worldwide, which means 63 percent of the population in the world. This data further indicates that the male’s use of social media was higher than females.
The Kurdish version of Hopkins Symptoms CheckList -25 and Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess psychological distress among university students that used social media. The questionnaire was distributed randomly among (Preprint)
Authors: Hussein Hataw 
Published: September 2022

BACKGROUND

In the modern day, most university students spend their time on one or more than one kind of social media platform (Karim, Oyewande, Abdalla, Chaudhry Ehsanullah, & Khan, 2020)., Social media platforms are important to share scientific information between students where they can improve their knowledge. Likewise, students can exchange ideas and knowledge with specialists or other individuals. Indeed, the use social media in a healthy way that makes a positive impact on learning (Kolhar, Kazi, & Alameen, 2021). However, social media affects the student’s mental health. In more details, Mental health is a state of well-being where people understand and better their abilities such as problem-solving, work ethic, and make a significant contribution to the lives of their communities (Karim, Oyewande, Abdalla, Chaudhry Ehsanullah, & Khan, 2020). Based on many studies, it is known that social media has had both positive and negative impacts on student’s mental health; the positive sides such as: managing depression, emotional support, self-expression, and self-identity; as well as, the negative sides such as: depression, loneliness, stress, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and cyber bullying (Akram & Kumar, 2017; Sadagheyani & Tatari, 2021; Sharma, John, & Sahu, 2020).
According to Vannucci, Ohannessian, & Gagnon (2019) study, it is apparant that in the United States students used a more variety types of social media platforms, they were reported to have had high levels of anxiety, depression, and substance use. Which is why social media is thought to have been the cause of many psychological distresses especially depression, anxiety, and stress among university students (Malaeb et al., 2021; Thapa, 2018). Besides, many studies found high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among university students that use social media, for example, Pungpapong & Kalayasiri (2020) study showed that the prevalence of depression was 58.7%, anxiety was 40.3%, and high level of stress among students in secondary schools from UK and Thailand. In addition, a cross-sectional study by Hammad & Alqarni (2021) found that the prevalence of depression and anxiety among university students were 47.57% and 47.82% in Saudi Arabia society. They found that there was a significant gender difference in the level of depression and anxiety; females were highly anxious and more depressed than males; also, there was a significant age difference in the level of depression and anxiety, the higher levels of depression and anxiety among students were at the ages of 16 – 25 years than over 60 years. Based on the results of the study, it was shown that there was no significant gender difference in the level of depression, anxiety, and stress, instead, it revealed that the higher level of depression, anxiety, and stress were more prevalent in females than males among students in Iran’s high school (Gholamian, Shahnazi, & Hassanzadeh, 2017).
Moreover, there are complex findings in the previous study where some studies indicated lower prevalence than another studies, indicating the high prevalence of psychological and mental disorders impacts of using social media in the world. Likewise, there is a slight study and scientific data about mental health impacts of using social media among university students in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Because of this, it makes a gap in our knowledge and understanding about mental health and the impacts of using social media on mental health among university students.

OBJECTIVE

The primary aim of this study is to discover the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress impacts of using social media. The study also attempted to find out the percentage of each of the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and items of stress among Halabja university students. Another aim is to find out significant gender and age differences in the level of psychological distress impacts of using social media among university students in Halabja University (Kurdistan Region of Iraq).

METHODS

Research design
A descriptive quantitative method is used in this study ., this method is a pleasant method with the nature of the study.
Procedure
In the present study, the data was collected from March 9th to May 18th, 2021. Convenience sampling was used to collect it. The questionnaire was distributed randomly among university students that use social media in dormitories, cafes, departments, and all of the places in Halabja University. The questionnaire consisted of confidentiality; informed consent, demographic information, and the scales of depression, anxiety, and stress. The participants of the study consisted of 143 Halabja University students.

RESULTS

Discussion and Result
Based on previous studies that indicated social media platforms cause psychological distress such as depression, anxiety, and stress especially among university students (Alammar & Al-garni, n.d.; Deepa & Priya, 2020; Scott & Canivet, 2020; Thapa, 2018). The present study found high prevalence of depression and anxiety (D = 65.03%, A = 62.24%), as well as a moderate level of stress (M = 17.77, SD = 5.570) in the impacts of using social media platforms among Halabja University students. Many studies supported these findings such as (Hammad & Alqarni, 2021; Pungpapong & Kalayasiri, 2020) by showing a high prevalence of depression, and anxiety among university students in the UK, Thiland, and Saudi Arabia society. In contrast, Pungpapong & Kalayasiri (2020) found higher level of stress among students in Saudi Arabia society. In addition to findings, the presence of even a little level in anxiety symptoms due of feeling fearful, nervousness or shakiness inside, and having headaches are high. The presence of feeling low in energy, slowing down, blaming yourself for things, difficulty falling asleep or staying a sleep, feeling blue, and worrying too much about things are of low significance. The presence of three items of stress include you often have been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly, you often have found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do, and you often have been angered because of things that were outside of your control are high in the level of some times and fairly often level.
While the study found out a significant gender difference and high level of depression, and anxiety among females than males Halabja University students, it showed that no significant gender difference in the level of stress, and high level of stress in females than male university students. Likewise, it showed no significant age difference but high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among 18-21 years than 22-25 years’ university students. The Hammad & Alqarni (2021) study supports the significant gender difference and high level of depression and anxiety among females than males, but they support no significant age difference in the level of depression and anxiety.
There are some differences between findings in studies. It may be because of the Corona Virus disease -19 (COVID-19) that some studies conducted during the high prevalence of COVID-19; different samples such as high school student and university students in the UK, Thailand, and Saudia society; also the different methods used in the studies such as online cross-sectional study, a cross-sectional design.
There are some limitations in this study such as there being fewer students participating in the study due to COVID-19 as it closed most of the places, one of them being universities; students have little information about the complete questionnaire; and some of the students had a stigma about mental and psychological distress and disorders. Although, only those students who use social media are included in the study.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study uncovers that social media has negative impacts on students' mental health. It also indicated a high prevalence of depression and anxiety, and a moderate level of stress among Halabja university students. It was apparent that there were higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among females than male university students. About the age differences, those students who were aged between 18 to 21 years were more depressed, anxious, and stressed than other students were aged between 22 to 25 years. Based on these findings, students will need to be more aware of the impacts of using social media on their mental health. Likewise, they should try to reduce the time of using social media and healthily use social media until each symptom of anxiety, depression, and stress are decreased. So that social media may bring about a positive impact on their mental health.