A Study on Effects of Social Media on Physical and Psychological Health in Thai Teenagers

Abstract

Social media is now a part of people’s daily life, with an estimated 3 billion social media users worldwide. The relationship between heavy use of social media and mental and emotional health-disorders has long been established. The purpose of this study is to examine the negative effects of the social media on physical and psychological health. Cross-sectional data were collected via an online questionnaire. Two hundred participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire that queried physical symptoms, psychological distress and technology and social media usage. In conclusion, the social media has a greater positive effect on females’ psychological distress than on male. Physical symptoms are positively affected by the average time spent on social media. In addition, the result also shows the positive relationship between the physical symptoms and psychological distress.