Original scientific paper
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL NETWORK USE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT IN STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Zorica Ergović
orcid.org/0009-0001-3959-6601
; Enthusiasm - Centre for personal development
Ivana Hanzec Marković
orcid.org/0000-0001-5944-6208
; University of Slavonski Brod, EDUDpt
Andreja Brajša-Žganec
orcid.org/0000-0003-0846-6297
; Institute of social sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the students’ habits of using social networking sites (SNS)
during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the relationship of SNS use (usage frequency and characteristics
of problematic use) with students’ psychological adjustment (distress, loneliness, and
happiness). Participants were 352 Croatian students (234 female, 118 male), with the mean age of
22 years (M = 22.2; SD = 2.44). The data was collected in May 2020 via online questionnaire containing
the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale
(DASS-21), the short‐form of the UCLA‐Loneliness Scale, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. The
results showed that students actively used four social networks; 44% of students spent 2-4 hours a
day on SNS during the pandemic, while 19.3% spent more than fi ve hours. For more than a half of
students this was more than before the pandemic. Levels of all characteristics of problematic SNS
use (preference for online interaction, mood regulation, cognitive preoccupation, compulsive use,
and negative outcomes) were low in surveyed students, while levels of all psychological adjustment
indicators were normal. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the SNS usage
frequency positively predicted distress and loneliness, and negatively predicted happiness. However,
after entering the characteristics of problematic SNS use in the second step of regression, usage
frequency lost its signifi cance as a predictor of adjustment. Mood regulation, preference for online
interaction and negative outcomes positively predicted distress; preference for online interaction
positively predicted loneliness, and mood regulation, compulsive use and preference for online interaction
negatively predicted happiness. The obtained results were interpreted in relation to the
research conducted before the pandemic, but also considering the specifi cs brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
problematic social networks use; distress; loneliness; happiness
Hrčak ID:
301433
URI
Publication date:
8.5.2023.
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