•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Social media detoxification has emerged as a strategy for enhancing well-being. This study investigates the effects of social media detox on the psychological well-being and academic performance of students. A total of 361 medical students participated in this study. After obtaining formal consent, the participants completed a structured survey administered in a controlled setting. The survey included sections on demographics, patterns of social media use (e.g., time spent, platforms accessed, and primary motivations), and standardized psychological assessment scales. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26. Most students (75.9%) reported using multiple social media platforms, with 36% spending two to four hours daily on these platforms. A substantial proportion (38.2%) exhibited signs of addiction, and nearly half (49.9%) perceived social media as having a negative impact on their mental health. Students in the detox group reported significantly improved sleep quality, reduced anxiety and stress, and enhanced academic performance (p

Bahasa Abstract

Media sosial telah muncul sebagai strategi untuk meningkatkan kesejahteraan. Studi ini menyelidiki efek detoksifikasi media sosial terhadap kesejahteraan psikologis dan prestasi akademik mahasiswa. Partisipan penelitian ini merupakan 361 mahasiswa kedokteran Setelah mendapatkan persetujuan formal, peserta menyelesaikan survei terstruktur yang diberikan dalam lingkungan terkontrol Survei tersebut terdiri dari pengisian data demografi, pola penggunaan media sosial (seperti durasi penggunaan, platform yang diakses, dan motivasi utama), dan skala penilaian psikologis standar. Analisis data dilakukan menggunakan SPSS versi 26. Sebagian besar mahasiswa (75,9%) melaporkan menggunakan beberapa platform media sosial, dengan 36% menghabiskan dua hingga empat jam setiap hari di platform tersebut. Sebagian besar (38,2%) menunjukkan tanda-tanda kecanduan, dan hampir setengahnya (49,9%) menganggap media sosial memiliki dampak negatif pada kesehatan mental mereka. Mahasiswa dalam kelompok detoksifikasi melaporkan peningkatan kualitas tidur yang signifikan, pengurangan kecemasan dan stres, serta peningkatan prestasi akademik (p

References

Ahmed, E., & Ahmed, S. (2025). Social media addiction, personality traits, and disorders: an overview of recent literature. Current opinion in psychiatry, 38(1), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000969

Ali, A., Musa, D. H., Mohammed, A. H., Abdulraheem, H., Salahadeen, S., Mustafa, A. The Association Between Irregular Sleep Patterns and Learning Outcomes: Implications for Students’ Health in Iraq. (2025). Makara Journal of Health Research, 29(2), 87-94. https://doi.org/10.7454/msk.v29i2.1880

Alonzo, R., Hussain, J., Stranges, S., & Anderson, K. K. (2021). Interplay between social media use, sleep quality, and mental health in youth: A systematic review. Sleep medicine reviews, 56, 101414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101414

Calvert, E., Cipriani, M., Dwyer, B., Lisowski, V., Mikkelson, J., Chen, K., Flathers, M., Hau, C., Xia, W., Castillo, J., Dhima, A., Ryan, S., & Torous, J. (2025). Social Media Detox and Youth Mental Health. JAMA network open, 8(11), e2545245. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.45245

Carr, C. T., & Hayes, R. A. (2015). Social Media: Defining, Developing, and Divining. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(1), 46–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2015.972282

Chotpitayasunondh, V., & Douglas, K. M. (2018). The effects of “phubbing” on social interaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 48(6), 304–316. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12506

Coyne, P., & Woodruff, S. J. (2023). Taking a Break: The Effects of Partaking in a Two-Week Social Media Digital Detox on Problematic Smartphone and Social Media Use, and Other Health-Related Outcomes among Young Adults. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 13(12), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13121004

Dunican, I. C., Martin, D. T., Halson, S. L., Reale, R. J., Dawson, B. T., Caldwell, J. A., Jones, M. J., & Eastwood, P. R. (2017). The Effects of the Removal of Electronic Devices for 48 Hours on Sleep in Elite Judo Athletes. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(10), 2832–2839. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001697

Eichenberg, C., Schneider, R., & Rumpl, H. (2024). Social media addiction: associations with attachment style, mental distress, and personality. BMC psychiatry, 24(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05709-z

Feng, T., Wang, B., Mi, M., Ren, L., Wu, L., Wang, H., Liu, X., & Wang, X. (2025). The relationships between mental health and social media addiction, and between academic burnout and social media addiction among Chinese college students: A network analysis. Heliyon, 11(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41869

John, N., Sahu, M., Sharma, M. K., & Murthy, P. (2025). Personality Traits that Predispose or Protect in Smartphone Addiction and Their Implications for Intervention: A Narrative Review. Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking, 28(6), 375–386. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2024.0444

Jorge, A. (2019). Social Media, Interrupted: Users Recounting Temporary Disconnection on Instagram. Social Media Society, 5(4), 205630511988169. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119881691.

Keller, J., Roitzheim, C., Radtke, T., Schenkel, K., & Schwarzer, R. (2021). A Mobile Intervention for Self-Efficacious and Goal-Directed Smartphone Use in the General Population: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 9(11), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.2196/26397

Liu, Y., Mohamad, E. M. W., Azlan, A. A., & Tan, Y. (2025). Am I Happier Without You? Social Media Detox and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 15(3), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030290

Nassen, L.-M., Vandebosch, H., Poels, K., & Karsay, K. (2023). Opt-out, abstain, unplug. A systematic review of the voluntary digital disconnection literature. Telematics and Informatics, 81, 101980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2023.101980

Nguyen V. T. (2022). The perceptions of social media users of digital detox apps considering personality traits. Education and information technologies, 27(7), 9293–9316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11022-7

Nikolic, A., Bukurov, B., Kocic, I., Vukovic, M., Ladjevic, N., Vrhovac, M., Pavlović, Z., Grujicic, J., Kisic, D., & Sipetic, S. (2023). Smartphone addiction, sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students. Frontiers in public health, 11, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1252371

Panova, T., & Carbonell, X. (2018). Is smartphone addiction really an addiction?. Journal of behavioral addictions, 7(2), 252–259. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.49

Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and Behavioral Correlates of Fear of Missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841–1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014

Radtke, T., Apel, T., Schenkel, K., Keller, J., & von Lindern, E. (2021). Digital detox: An effective solution in the smartphone era? A systematic literature review. Mobile Media & Communication, 10(2), 190–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211028647

Rahman, M., Rabby, M. F., Kabir, M. R., Anjum, R., Saha, O., Bhuiyan, M. A. A., Emon, H. H., & Hossain, M. M. (2025). Associations between social media addiction, social media fatigue, fear of missing out, and sleep quality among university students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. Journal of health, population, and nutrition, 44(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-00896-1

Ramadhan, R. N., Rampengan, D. D., Yumnanisha, D. A., Setiono, S. B., Tjandra, K. C., Ariyanto, M. V., Idrisov, B., & Empitu, M. A. (2024). Impacts of digital social media detox for mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Narra J, 4(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.52225/narra.v4i2.786

Santos, L. C. O., & Alves, M. M. (2025). Social Media Burnout and Internet Addiction: The Role of Extroversion and Social Self-Concept in a Brazilian Sample. Psychological reports, 128(3), 1356–1370. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941231174390

Sarifin, M., Yusoff, N., & Muhamad Adnan, M. (2026). Social Media and Virtual Communities In Malaysia: Investigating Digital Engagement, Social Problem Management, and Economic Mobility. Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia, 30(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.7454/hubs.asia.v30.i1.1588

Schmuck D. (2020). Does Digital Detox Work? Exploring the Role of Digital Detox Applications for Problematic Smartphone Use and Well-Being of Young Adults Using Multigroup Analysis. Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking, 23(8), 526–532. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0578

Setia, S., Gilbert, F., Tichy, M. L., Redpath, J., Shahzad, N., & Marraccini, M. E. (2025). Digital Detox Strategies and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Scoping Review of Why, Where, and How. Cureus, 17(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.78250

Sheldon, P., Antony, M. G., & Sykes, B. (2021). Predictors of Problematic Social Media Use: Personality and Life-Position Indicators. Psychological reports, 124(3), 1110–1133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120934706

Singh, A., Chaudhury, S., & Chaudhari, B. (2024). Impact of Social Media Addiction Among Medical Students on Their Social Interaction, Well-Being, and Personality: A Comparative Study. Cureus, 16(9), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.70526

Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications approach. Qualitative Market Research, 16(4), 362–369. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-06-2013-0041

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.