“Overuse of Social

Media Affects the

Mental Health of
Adolescents and
Early Youth”
Research Proposal | Group 4 | ABM 5

A Research By : Sampathirao Prabhakararao (2016),

“The International Journal of Indian Psychology”

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

In recent days, we witness a rising number of adolescents becoming the victims

of behavioural changes and when we go through their history over a period of
time, we learn that it is owing to the overuse of social media and most of them
have internet addiction (1) There are growing news reports that the teenagers
who engage in social media during the late night could be damaging their sleep
and increasing their risk of anxiety and depression. Girls, more than boys seek
comfort on social media when they are worried. Teens are so emotionally
invested in social media that a fifth of secondary school pupil will wake up at
night and log on(2). The report found that there was a “clear association”
between longer time spent on social websites and the incidence of mental health
problems. As per children wellbeing study also there is clear association
between number of hours a child spent on social networking sites

The International Journal of Indian Psychology ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (p)

Volume 3, Issue 2, No.8, DIP: 18.01.136/20160302

ISBN: 978-1-329-95395-6 http://www.ijip.in | January - March, 2016

The Beneficiaries or The significance of this

Study

Teens and Adolescents – The use of social media by children and teenagers
to allow them to have fun, form and retain connections, share interests,
explore identities, and establish relationships with family. It's a natural
progression of their offline and in-person encounters. It's typically a crucial
aspect of how older teenagers engage with their peers.

Society - Overuse of social media can have a negative impact on a person's

mental health. Society's advice to the younger generation based ont this
study is to limit whatever it is that keeps them distracted, particularly
SOCIAL MEDIA. They can also assist young people in developing their
interests and finding other people who share those interests. They can aid
in the introduction of new items and ideas to young people,as well as the
development of existing interests.
 The Main Questions

What are the reasons why they overuse

Social Media?

* Either a teenager is feeling isolated or disconnected from their

family or friends, they may turn to social media.

* To have fun, make and maintain friendships, share interests,

explore identities and develop relationships with family.

* They use social media and overuse it just to escape

from problems and get some type of relief from it.

How can this affect

their mental health?

According to a study, children who spend

more than three hours per day on social
networking sites like Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram are more likely to develop
mental health issues. Because they spend
so much time in the virtual world, such
youngsters risk having their emotional
and social development delayed. The
temptation to "always be flawless" and
the overpowering need to respond to
texts and postings as soon as possible
causes anxiety and a fear of missing out.
The worst part is that teenagers require
more sleep than adults, so using social
media late at night could be harmful to
their health.

Is over using social

media good or bad?

Ironically for a technology that's

designed to bring people closer
together, spending too much time
engaging with social media can
actually make you feel more
lonely and isolated—and
exacerbate mental health
problems such as anxiety and
depression. So no but the majority
is Good considering there are
some people willing to help other
people and provide information
that we don't know yet. In
conclusion Social Media is not
meant to be Over Used.
The Major Limitation

The only thing that is worth considering is that

this is only limited to Teens and Adolescents
for overusing it.

“Reason Why We
Conducted This Study”

We did this research because we wanted to learn

more about how social media affects their mental
health. We all know that social media is addictive
for teenagers and even our younger family
members, including our youth, but we want to
investigate whether or not overusing social media is
good or bad for their well-being and mental health.
The purpose of this research is to find answers to
these issues.

Definition of Terms

Isolated - means far away from everyone or everything

else. The hermit who lives on a remote island is
isolated from the rest of the world, with nothing but
coconuts and fish to keep him company. The word
isolated comes from the Latin word insula, which
means island.

Exacerbate - means to make more violent, bitter, or

severe The new law only exacerbates the problem.

Chapter 2

Conclusions and Summary

SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH

Social media besides being educative role, it increases connections and

communications. Blogging can be therapeutic for who are confused, down, or
need to vent frustrations. It unleashes one's own potential and helps to find
identity for his/her talent. Negative correlates of social media include, behavioral
addiction, decrease in real life social community participation and academic
achievement, as well as relationship problems.
 Conclusion

Social media in the form of Social Networking Sites (SNS) is seen as

current ‘global phenomenon’ with an exponential rise in their use
within the last few years. Extraverts use social networking sites for
social enhancement, whereas introverts use it for social compensation
(16) Besides being educative role, social media increases connections
and communications. If used properly, it also builds bridges over
barriers and strengthens relationships. It encourages community
participation and boosts ones confidence.

Definition of Terms

* Introvert - An introvert is a person with qualities of a personality type

known as introversion, which means that they feel more comfortable
focusing on their inner thoughts and ideas, rather than what's
happening externally. They enjoy spending time with just one or two
people, rather than large groups or crowds.

* Extravert- is a measure of how energetic, sociable and friendly a

person is. Extraverts are commonly understood as being a 'people's
person' drawing energy from being around others directing their
energies towards people and the outside world

5 Related Topics

* 1.The Impact of Social Media on the Academic Development of

School Students

* 2.Association of Social Media Use With Social Well-Being, Positive

Mental Health, and Self-Rated Health: Disentangling Routine Use
From Emotional Connection to Use.

* 3.The influence of mass media on teenagers’ moral development

* 4.The Social Media also leads to cyber bullying or other types of

discrimination.

* 5 Effective ways monitoring what children access on social

networking platforms
References

1. Internet addiction key reason for cyberbullying, Dr K. John Vijay Sagar, Associate professor of the
department of child and adolescent
psychiatry, Nimhans, Bangalore. A report on the effect of social media on mental health of children
from the office of national statistics of USA.

2. Excessive social media use harms children’s mental health, published in telegraph, UK.

3. News bits about affects of Social media from Indian TV News Channels

4. Legal opinion expressed by Pawan Duggal, Advocate Supreme Court in the media about social
media.

5. Dr Van Zwanberg, Priory’s Woodbourne Hospital, Birmingham,

6. Expert opinion by American Psychologists Association

7. Kirschner PA, Karpinski AC. Facebook and academic performance. Comput Hum Behav. 2010;.

8. As per the content posted about social media on ask.fm, a social networking site.

9. Frequent use of social networking sites is associated with poor psychological functioning among
children and adolescents, cyber psychology,
Behaviour and social networking - Hugues Sampasa-Kanyinga, Rosamund F, lewis.

10. Expert opinion published in the newspaper Times of India, five ways social media affect your
mental health.

11. Expert opinion by Dr Ashima Srivastava, Delhi based clinical psychologist.

12. Expert opinion by Dr Samir Parish, Fortis health care, Delhi

13. Expert opinion by Sippy

14. Internet addiction may weaken your immune system –Study- by Professor Phil Reed , Swansea
University

15. Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature-Daria J. Kuss,
and Mark D. Griffiths

16. Expert opinion by Ms Melissa Page, blogger based in San Diego, California.z
 THANK
YOU!

GROUP 4 | ABM 5

Marc Reed E. Pontohan

Kathlyn Joy S. Lomonsod

Nove Jane Jupiter

Natalie Claire Jimenez

Ashlee Yvon Degumbis

Maui Macarandan