A study of correlates of social networking site addiction among the undergraduate health professionals

Introduction: Social networking sites (SNSs) are popular, and there is a concern regarding its addiction among the young adults. The present study aimed to find the correlates of SNS addiction among the undergraduate health professionals. Methods: This was a 6-month, cross-sectional, and observational study of 730 undergraduate health professionals of government medical, dental, and physiotherapy colleges of Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling from the medical, dental, and physiotherapy government colleges. The Social Media Disorder Scale was used to detect the SNS addiction, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Scale was used to find the severity of FOMO, the Perceived Stress Scale was used to detect the severity of stress, and the Insomnia Severity Index was used to detect the severity of insomnia in health professionals. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis were used for analysis of data. Results: The prevalence rate of SNS addiction was 15.02% among the undergraduate health professionals. Participants with addiction were using SNS widely (hostel, home, college, and leisure hours), spent more time and money on Internet, started SNS use before 5 years, and reported FOMO. They also reported moderate-to-severe stress and insomnia. Conclusion: SNS addiction is prevalent in undergraduate health professionals. High level of FOMO, perceived stress, and insomnia among the health professionals are important correlates with SNS addiction.