Social Media and Depression: Saudi Arabia

(Adel Alaraifi)

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Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of online social media (OSM) assimilation on individuals’ levels of depression in Saudi Arabia. Over the last decade, Saudi Arabia has witnessed an exponential increase in the number of OSM users. Previous studies suggest that OSM usage can be used as a predictor of many behavioral outcomes for individuals. Nevertheless, the literature on the assimilation and risk of OSM within Saudi Arabia is still very limited, especially in terms of linking OSM to depression. This cross-sectional study adopts a quantitative approach using an online survey of 626 users to measure how OSM assimilation affects levels of depression among users in Saudi Arabia. The analysis was conducted using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The result indicates that OSM usage has a significant negative impact on depression.

KEYWORDS
Online social media, depression, technology assimilation, social media risk

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