Social Media, Religion, and Anxiety: Comparison of Age Groups

Social media has become an integral part of daily life for all age groups. The current research is mixed, showing both positive and negative effects from social media on mental health. This study aimed to examine how the duration of social media use compared with anxiety levels, and if religiosity had any effect on social media use and anxiety. It also wanted to determine if there was a correlation between religiosity and social media use, and how social media use and religiosity predicted anxiety. This study filled a gap in research by extending previous studies beyond adolescents and by including religiosity. The online survey for this study included demographics, types of social media platforms, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES). Data had been collected for this quantitative study through a shared survey link via the graduate student’s Facebook page and entered into SPSS. It was analyzed for correlations using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r), and a multiple regression analysis. The overall results showed no correlation between anxiety and social media use leading to the failure to reject the null hypothesis. Age was not a moderating factor between social media use and anxiety. Although, the older the participant, the lower the anxiety reported. There had been a small negative correlation between spirituality and duration, and this correlation had been statistically significant at the .01 level, which meant that as duration increased, spirituality decreased. Neither duration nor spirituality had been significantly associated with anxiety. Overall, the findings had not found a significant relationship between social media and mental health.