A Study on Social Media and Substance Abuse as Coping Mechanisms in Indian College Students
Journal Title: INDIAN JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH - Year 2018, Vol 5, Issue 1
Abstract
Background: Increasing perceived stress directs college students to resort to a variety of coping mechanisms. Among the popular strategies, many college students are reaching out to social media, while many take to substance abuse. Like two sides of a coin, substance abuse and social media are used for both negative and positive purposes. The present study is designed to explore which coping mechanism -substance abuse or social media, do young adults employ to cope with their stress and the effectiveness of that mechanism.Methods: A sample of 167 male and female college students is selected. Data is collected through a selfdesigned questionnaire and Index of Clinical Stress (Abell, 1991).Descriptive statistics, student’s t-test and ANOVA is employed to analyse the data. Results: Results indicate no significant differences in the perceived stress experienced by students who use social media, substance abuse and both as coping mechanisms. More students using social media as coping measure reported a decrease in their stress. Also, students who perceived social support reported the least stress experienced. Dissatisfaction with their choice of coping measure also reported higher stress in the students. Almost half the sample reported that they would recommend neither social media nor substance abuse as coping mechanisms. Conclusion:The results guide towards numerous future research ideas, as none of the two coping mechanisms seem to relieve stress in young adolescents and they do not qualify to be recommended. The importance of social support and satisfaction with one’s own choices is reiterated.
Authors and Affiliations
Khushali Adhiya-Shah, Nidah Merchant, Fatima Tejani
Keywords
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