The relationship between social media addiction levels and happiness levels among healthcare professionals

Background and aimsThis study was conducted cross-sectionally using a descriptive-correlational approach. Study aimed to examine the relationship between healthcare professionals ‘social media addiction and their level of happiness.MethodsThe data was collected via a survey of healthcare professionals working at a public hospital in a major city in western Turkey between November 1 and December 31, 2024. IBM SPSS 26.0 software was used for data analysis.ResultsThe study included 225 healthcare professionals (65.8% female, 34.2% male), with an average age of 33.11 ± 9.07. The average daily social media usage time was 2.96 ± 1.49 h. Healthcare professionals had moderate levels of happiness (24.29 ± 4.07) and social media addiction (14.30 ± 4.81). Happiness scores did not differ significantly across sociodemographic characteristics (p > 0.05). However, social media addiction scores were significantly higher among women and single participants (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that happiness score was positively correlated with age and years of work experience, and negatively correlated with social media addiction (p < 0.05). Social media addiction was negatively correlated with age and years of work experience, and positively correlated with daily social media usage time (p < 0.001). In the multiple linear regression analysis, the model was significant (F = 5.35; p < 0.01), and the social media addiction score explained 9% of the variance in happiness scores (R2 = 0.09).ConclusionsOnly social media addiction is a significant predictor of happiness. The findings indicate that as social media addiction increases, happiness levels decrease.