Factors driving the social media behavior and stress trends of digital generation students

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate: 1) the differences in personal factors affecting students' stress levels in the digital age; 2) the differences in social media usage behaviors affecting students' stress levels; and 3) the structural influence of online psychosocial factors on students' stress levels. Data were collected from a sample of 400 undergraduate students across public and private universities using quota and convenience sampling techniques. The research instrument was a questionnaire verified for both content validity and reliability. Statistical analyses included percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-way ANOVA, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The research findings revealed that: 1. Personal factors showed statistically significant differences in students' stress levels based on their academic year (p < 0.05), with third-year students exhibiting the highest stress levels. 2. Social media usage behaviors demonstrated statistically significant differences in students' stress levels solely in terms of usage volume (Screen Time) (p < 0.05). 3. Online psychosocial factors significantly influenced students' stress across all three dimensions: the physical dimension (β = 0.727, f² = 1.120), mental and emotional dimension (β = 0.706, f² = 0.994), and behavioral dimension (β = 0.692, f² = 0.917). The predictive power (R²) of the structural model for these three stress dimensions was 52.80%, 49.80%, and 47.80%, respectively.