A Study on Media Addiction, Sleep Health and Body Image Distress among Young Adults

Abstract

In this digital world, where information is everything and popularity is often quantified by the number of followers, social media apps play a vital role in an individual's knowledge and popularity. On the bright side, this digital era fosters global awareness, bridges distance and keeps us well-informed, but on the dark side lies numerous side-effects; social media addiction, unhealthy comparison, cyber bullying, negative emotional impacts, increasing screen-time and deteriorating sleep quality especially among the young adults and adolescents. The current study assessed the link between social media addiction, sleep quality and body image distress among the young adults. A sample of 42 participants between the age group of 18-25 were recorded using The Body and Appearance Self-conscious Emotion Scale (BASES), The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS). The result indicated that no significant correlation was found between media addiction levels and sleep quality or body image perception, nor between sleep quality and body image perception.