Scrolling for Study Helps, Scrolling for Fun Hurts: New Research on Nursing Students’ Social Media Use and Wellbeing
A recent study on nursing students’ social media usage suggests that social media use can affect wellbeing, depending on the purpose.
The study was led by Dr. Mohamed Goda Elbqry , with co-authors Dr. Fatma Mohamed Elmansy, Dr. Noha Mohammed Ibrahim, Dr. Saddam Ahmed Al‑Ahdal, and Dr. Fatima S. O. Ashmieg, from Qassim University (Saudi Arabia) and Suez Canal University (Egypt). The team published their findings in The Open Nursing Journal (Bentham Open).
Purpose of using Social Media
Social media is woven into the daily lives of university students, but its impact depends on how it is used. A nursing student who turns to platforms for lecture notes, assignment collaboration, or clinical case discussions engages in a fundamentally different practice than one who spends hours on entertainment feeds or constant social messaging. A new study published in The Open Nursing Journal asked a critical question: Does the purpose behind social media use determine whether it supports or undermines students’ life satisfaction?
The Study
Researchers surveyed 298 undergraduate nursing internship students (128 males, 170 females; average age just over 21) at Al‑Razi University, Sanaa, Yemen, between April and August 2025. Using four validated questionnaires, the team measured academic, social, and entertainment use of social media, levels of addiction, and overall life satisfaction. The study followed STROBE guidelines for observational research, with structural equation modelling applied to map relationships among variables.
Key Findings
The results revealed that academic use of social media, such as for coursework, exam preparation, or peer learning, was associated with higher life satisfaction and lower risk of addiction. In contrast, entertainment-driven use emerged as the strongest predictor of addictive behaviour, with a path coefficient more than three times larger than social use. Social media addiction itself was independently linked to lower life satisfaction and partially mediated the effects of all three types of use. The indirect negative effect of entertainment use on life satisfaction (β = -0.235) was considerably stronger than that of social use (β = -0.078), while academic use showed a modest positive indirect effect (β = 0.069).
Implications for Universities and Students
The findings highlight that not all social media time is equal. Purposeful academic engagement enhances wellbeing, while compulsive recreational use erodes it. Universities should consider implementing digital wellness programmes that help students distinguish between academic and recreational use, alongside policies that restrict non-academic platform access during study hours and counselling or peer support for students showing signs of addiction. Given nursing students’ high academic and clinical stress, such measures could meaningfully improve wellbeing. The authors note limitations, including the single-institution sample, reliance on self-reports, and cross-sectional design. Future longitudinal and multi-site studies are needed.
Read the published article here: https://bit.ly/4gYfD9i
JOURNAL
The Open Nursing Journal
DOI: 10.2174/0118744346482130260606204339
Interested in publishing your Research? Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4de0DRi
The Open Nursing Journal
10.2174/0118744346482130260606204339
Social Media Addiction among Nursing Students as a Partial Mediator between Academic Social Media Use and Life Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study