Prevalence and Demographic Correlates of Social Media Addiction among Secondary School Students

Objective: The excessive use of social media has become a social habit in today’s world, and social media addiction affects people worldwide. The use of social media platforms has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly among young people and teenagers. Social media usage is a global consumer phenomenon that has experienced exponential growth in the last few years. The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of social media addiction among secondary school students and to examine the association between social media addiction and specific demographic characteristics, including age, gender, grade, residence, and family monthly income. Methods and Materials: A Descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed to conduct this study, aiming to achieve the objectives. An assessment approach, using questionnaire items, was conducted to assess the prevalence of social media addiction among secondary school students. The study was conducted from December 18, 2024, to January 20, 2025. A probability sample of 10 schools was selected from a population of 384 secondary school students in Al-Diwaniyah city—probability of simple random sampling. Three hundred eighty-four samples of students were chosen from ten secondary schools in the General Directorate of Education in Al-Diwaniyah city. Findings: The findings indicated that the majority of their age 114 (29.7%) were 18 years old. The results represent that most of the study sample 201(52.3%) were female, the majority of the study sample 145 (37.8%) in 5th grade, the highest percentage 301 (78.4%) were lived in urban areas, the majority of the study sample 124 (32.3%) were Family monthly income 300,000 to 600,000 Iraqi Dinars. Social media addiction indicated that 60.4% of students demonstrated moderate addiction. Conclusion: Overall, a moderate prevalence of social media addiction was recorded among secondary school students. There is a significant association between social media addiction and demographic data such as sex, residence, grade, family monthly income, and no significant association between social media addiction and age.