Abstract
The significant mental health concerns have been highlighted by the rising incidence of social media addiction among university students. This research examined the relationship between social media addiction (SMA) and both depression and anxiety, while exploring the mediating effect of the family environment (FE) among Saudi university students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January and February 2025 among 627 students from four Saudi public universities (376 men and 251 women). Using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 25.0, descriptive, correlational, and mediation analyses were conducted. Significant positive relationships were seen between SMA and anxiety (r = 0.41, p < 0.001) and depression (r = 0.37, p < 0.001). Additionally, there was a strong correlation between the family environment and anxiety (r = 0.42, p < 0.001) and depression (r = 0.31, p < 0.001). The indirect effects were statistically significant (bootstrapped 95% CI not containing zero), and mediation analysis showed that FE fully mediated the connections between SMA and both anxiety and depression. These results highlight the need for early treatments that address students’ social media-related discomfort while creating a nurturing home setting to mitigate the psychological effects of excessive social media use.
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The datasets produced and/or analyzed in this study are not publicly accessible; however, they can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request.
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AJ, SM, HX, and WG wrote the first draft of the theoretical background. AJ, NS, SM, HX, and WG contributed to the study’s design; data were collected by NS. NS, HX, SM, and WG conducted the data analysis and wrote the first version of the findings section of the manuscript. NS, HX, and WG supervised the study and contributed to further developing the findings section.
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Ethical Approval for this study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Deanship of Scientific Research, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (Approval No.: SB2024019; Date of Approval: 12 December 2024).
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Jameel, A., Xu, H., Guo, W. et al. The effects of social media addiction on depression and anxiety among university students: The mediating role of family environment. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45666-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45666-z
