The Relationship Between Social Network Usage and Mental Health Among Youths in Klang Valley, Malaysia

The usage of social media among young people has alarmingly increased over the past 20 years, accompanied by an increase in mental health issues. This study aimed to identify the association between social network usage and mental health among Klang Valley, Malaysia youths. A total of 288 respondents aged 18 to 30 years old were recruited using snowball sampling. The response rate was 88.62%. The Social Network Usage Questionnaire (SNUQ) was used to measure social network usage, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) was used to assess depression, anxiety, and stress levels. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among the respondents was 35.2%, 44.8% and 30.6%, respectively. The median duration of social network usage was 5 (Q1, Q3: 4,8) hours a day. Respondents’ anxiety levels were positively correlated with monthly individual income (r=0.133, p=0.025) and level of constraint in using social media (r=0.239, p<0.001), while depression (r=0.257, p<0.001) and stress (r=0.260, p<0.001) levels showed a positive correlation with the level of constraint in using social media. The anxiety mean score was higher among respondents who used TikTok, 2.35 (SD = 1.57), compared to respondents who never used TikTok, 1.97 (SD = 1.36; p=0.033). Higher monthly individual income, higher constraints in using social media and TikTok usage were the factors associated with anxiety among youths. None of the social media usage influenced depression and stress levels. More studies are needed to establish an association between social media usage and the mental health of youths in Malaysia.