Duration and Frequency of Social Networking as Predictors of Pathological Symptoms among University Undergraduates, Nigeria

As a sort of psychopathology, social media addiction affects a large number of people across the globe. Although it is widely debated in medical and related literature, there is a dearth of literature on duration and frequency of social networking and psychopathological symptoms among Nigerian youth. Undergraduates (N= 300) purposively drawn from two Nigerian universities responded to Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) and Frequency of Social Networking Usage Questionnaire (FSNUQ). Reported prevalence of pathological social networking was 16.3%. Observed pathological social networking symptoms are salience (22.3%), tolerance (15.7%), mood modification (15.7%), relapse (14.7%), withdrawal (16.3%) and conflict (15.0%). Duration of Social Networking (DSN) is positively related with salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, and conflict. DSN and Frequency of Social Networking (FSN) both have significant relative and composite predictive influence on salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal and conflict.