| Abstract: |
This study examined the impact of social media use on mental health awareness
among youths in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria, using ordinal logistic regression analysis. The study was guided by three objectives which focused on determining the extent of social media use, assessing the level of mental health awareness, and analysing the effect of social media use on mental health awareness. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 27,650 and data were collected from 394 youths selected through simple random sampling. A structured questionnaire measured social media use and mental health awareness using a four-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression. Findings revealed a high level of social media use among youths in Agbor, with most respondents reporting daily engagement and frequent reliance on social media for information. The study also found a relatively high level of mental health awareness among respondents. The ordinal logistic regression result showed that social media use has a statistically significant positive effect on mental health awareness (? = 0.874, p < 0.05), with an odds ratio of 2.397, indicating that higher social media use increases the likelihood of higher mental health awareness levels. The model explained 28.4% of the variation in mental health awareness (Nagelkerke R² = 0.284). The study concludes that social media use
significantly influences mental health awareness among youths, but the relationship is structured in ordered categories rather than linear increments. It recommended the design of tiered mental health awareness campaigns, strengthening of offline mental health education, and targeted interventions to support movement from low to higher awareness levels. |
