Exploring the relation between social media use and depression rates in college students in the nursing major

Sydney Daniels

This proposal calls for research to investigate the relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms among the pre-licensure nursing major students of Lander University. Previous research studies found a positive correlation between social media use and depression (Lin, et al. 2016; Shensa, Sidani, Dew, Escobar-Viera, & Primack, 2018). A high prevalence of depression among nursing students has also been reported in the literature (Tung, Lo, Ho, & Tam, 2018). Prior to this study, there have been no documented research on the association between social media use and depression in nursing students. Participants will participate in an anonymous survey containing questions from the Personal Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9) and questions about their social media use.

• Sydney is currently a nursing major and will graduate May 2020. Sydney is a member of the Lander University Student Nurses Association, and she also serves on the leadership committee of Baptist Collegiate Ministry.