IMPACT OF SUSTAINED SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSURE ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTHS IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study examined the impact of sustained social media exposure on the mental health of youths in Enugu State. The study sought to determine the extent to which continuous engagement with social media platforms influences students’ mental health, with particular focus on anxiety, depression, and mental breakdown tendencies. The research adopted a descriptive survey design involving a sample of 373 youths drawn through multistage sampling techniquefrom a population of 1,078,287 youths. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage distributions) and a t-test to test the study’s hypothesis. Findings revealed that a large proportion of youths in Enugu State (33.4%) spend 3–4 hours daily on social media, while 24.8% spend over 5 hours, showing high levels of digital engagement. The analysis further indicated that 41.8% of respondents experience moderate anxiety, 38.7% report high anxiety, and 42.9% exhibit high exposure to social media, suggesting a strong correlation between sustained online engagement and psychological distress. Additionally, 78% of youths showed moderate to high depression tendencies linked to excessive social media use. The t-test result showed a statistically significant difference in depression levels between youths with high (mean = 4.2) and low (mean = 2.8) exposure to social media (t = 14.62, df = 212, p < 0.05), confirming that frequent social media use contributes significantly to depression tendencies. The study concludes that sustained social media exposure negatively affects the mental health of youths, leading to increased anxiety, depression, and mental strain. It emphasises the urgent need for digital literacy education, mental health counseling, and structured awareness programmes to help youths manage online behaviour effectively. The study recommended that there should be continuous effort toward digital literacy and social media management programs geared towards enlightening youths on the healthy use of digital platforms.