The Impact of Social Media on Depression among Emerging Adults in Kenyatta University Main Campus and United States International University- Africa

The advancement of social media goes hand in hand with some maladaptive behaviors. Social media for example has appeared among emerging adults who are in search of their uniqueness and determination in life. Social media and depression have been studied independently or in relation to other constructs such as loneliness, relationship, academic performance. Though many studies have been done separately on social media and depression, there appears to have no research about their association. Consequently, this study will explore the impact of social media on depression. This study was guided by the following objectives; to investigate the social media usage and depression among emerging adults, to establish the perception of compulsive social media use among emerging adult, to determine the extent to which social media usage affects emerging adults, to determine the relationship between compulsive social media use and depression among emerging adults in Kenyatta University Main Campus and United States International University-Africa. The researcher used descriptive cross-sectional research design The study adopted a convenience sampling method to help complete questionnaire among 173 university students at Kenyatta University Main Campus and United States International University-Africa. The study used Internet Addiction Test and the Beck's Depression Test as the main data collection tools. Data at first was analyzed using descriptive analysis to summarize the data collected. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was also used to test the impact of social media on depression. Data analysis identified that prolonged use of social media among emerging adults resulted to lack of concentration in other activities, tiredness, sleep apnea, reduced performance in school and work related performance issues, changes in individual moods, feeling discouraged, loss of hope and reduced sexual performance due to intimacy from online sites. The study showed that at Sig. P