Saudi university students spend nearly 3.5 hours daily on social media: Study

Saudi university students spend around three hours and 28 minutes daily on social media, according to a recent scientific study. The research, which surveyed 2,540 students from public and private universities, revealed that 42.8% of participants had low psychological well-being. First-year students used social media the most, averaging three hours and 49 minutes per day, while fourth-year students recorded the lowest at three hours and 19 minutes.

Overall, the average psychological well-being score was 52.98 out of 100, which researchers deemed borderline. First-year students exhibited the highest psychological well-being (54.41), while fifth-year students had the lowest (47.58). The study also found that 72.7% of students experienced moderate loneliness and social isolation, 56.5% showed moderate smartphone dependence, and 56.4% had moderate social support.

However, 44% of participants demonstrated high academic engagement. The research did not find a significant difference in social isolation, smartphone dependence, or psychological well-being between male and female students, who constituted 60% and 40% of the sample, respectively. The study used several scientific measures, including the World Health Organization's Well-Being Index, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Nomophobia Scale, and concluded that broader personal, family, academic, and economic factors likely play a more significant role in students' psychological well-being.