Addicted and affected – social media addiction, mental health and academic performance: a PLS-SEM approach

Purpose This research paper is intended to find out the impact of social media addiction on the academic performance of students pursuing higher education directly and indirectly by means of the mediation role of mental health and emotional distress. By combining psychological and behavioural theories, the study aims to reveal the indirect mechanisms through which overuse of social media influencing the academic performance of students in higher education institutions or universities. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was developed and shared with students at various universities in India through a convenience sampling technique. The analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in Smart PLS 4. Findings The results reflected that social media addiction has a significant negative direct effect on academic performance and an additional indirect effect and hence results in the deteriorating mental health of students, confirming a psychologically mediated pathway. Practical implications The study offers implications to policy-makers, teachers and counsellors to develop interventions that enhance digital health and emotional wellbeing and thus, improve academic achievements of students. Originality/value The paper is one of the limited empirical studies in the education domain to test a mediation model in which social media addiction predicts academic performance through students’ mental health.