Influence On Social Media On Mental Health Of Youth

This study was carried out to examine the influence on social media on mental health of youth in Nigeria using Youths in Abeokuta as a case study. The study was specifically set to determine the extent of social media usage among Youths in Abeokuta, determine whether there is a significant relationship between social media usage and the mental health of youths, and ascertain the influence of social media experience on the mental health of Youths in Abeokuta. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of youths resident in Abeokuta. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 200 respondents and 150 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables. While the hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation statistical tool, SPSS v23. The result of the findings reveals that there is a high extent of social media usage among Youths in Abeokuta. Furthermore the study also revealed that the use of social media has caused negative influences on mental health like an increase in anxiety, depression, isolation, and low self-esteem.. Therefore the study recommends that the exercise of safe social and balance use of social media should be encouraged among the youths. To mention but a few.