The impact of social media usage and lifestyle habits on academic achievement: Insights from a developing country context. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bou-Hamad, Imad
• Is Part Of: Children and youth services review. Volume 118(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: Social media usage -- Academic performance -- Lifestyle habits -- University students; Social work with children -- Periodicals; Social work with youth -- Periodicals; Adolescent -- Periodicals; Child Welfare -- Periodicals; Social Work -- Periodicals; Service social aux enfants -- Périodiques; Service social à la jeunesse -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105425
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-7409

Abstract

Highlights: An hour spent on social media lowers the odds of good academic performance by 24%. Engagement in romantic relationships impairs academic performance. Non-smoker students achieve better academic results than smoker students. Abstract: Social media has become an integral part of young people's lives. While its effects on students' academic performance are extensively studied in the literature, there is still a lack of research on how social media combined with other lifestyle habits can affect academic performance in a developing country context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media and a collection of behavioral factors such as smoking, consuming alcohol, and romantic relationships on academic achievement in a context of developing countries. From a sample of 112 undergraduate students at a university in Lebanon, the study found that excessive social media use, smoking, and romantic relationships were significantly associated with a lower academic performance. No interactions have been detected between social media usage and other lifestyle habits. A classification model that predicts the likelihood of having good academic performance is also presented.