Causes of Social Media Addiction in University Students, Sleep Quality? A Study on Sports Science Students

Abstract

This study aims to investigate social media addiction among college students, specifically the relationship between sleep quality and social media use. The study sample group consisted of 530 students from the departments of coaching education, sports management, leisure and sports, and physical education from four private and two public universities with faculties of sports science. The data of the study were obtained by Personal Information Form, Social Media Addiction Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 package program and the significance level was determined as 0.05. The findings of the study revealed that there were significant differences in sleep quality and social media addiction levels according to the gender and employment status of the students. While delay in falling asleep and lower sleep efficiency were noteworthy in male students, it was found that the sleep duration of working students was shorter compared to non-working students. It was also observed that virtual tolerance and virtual communication levels were higher in non-working students. While sleep quality sub-dimensions were positively and moderately related to each other, negative and significant relationships were found between social media addiction sub-dimensions and sleep quality. As a result of regression analysis, it was determined that the deterioration in sleep quality significantly increased the level of social media addiction and this relationship had a moderate effect