Exploring the mediating role of insomnia on the nexus between social media addiction and mental health among university students

The issue of social media addiction among university students is very severe. Identifying possible risk factors for social media addiction is crucial. The objective of this research was to analyze the association between social media addiction and mental health issues, such as depressive symptoms, among university students and to explore the potential mediation effect of insomnia on this association. The cross-sectional research from October to November 2024 recruited 727 students (486 male and 241 female) from three comprehensive universities in Saudi Arabia. Statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, and mediation analyses, were conducted using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 25.0 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The present research identified favorable associations between social media addiction and mental health issues, such as depression symptoms, among Saudi university students. It was also found that insomnia played a mediating role in the relationship between social media addiction and mental health. Our findings underscore the essential need for prevention and early detection of social media addiction in university students, particularly those who have insomnia.