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August 20, 2026Open Access

Digital Learning Strain and Social Media Use in Relation to Anxiety-Related Symptoms, Stress, and Academic Performance among Students in Pakistan: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

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Authors

SMSidra Tul Muntaha

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Overview

Cross-sectional study reveals digital learning strain and problematic social media use correlate with stress and lower academic performance, indicating need for student digital well-being strategies.

Key Points

  • To examine the relationships among digital learning strain, problematic social media use, anxiety symptoms, stress, and self-rated academic performance in students.
  • Conducted an exploratory cross-sectional survey using convenience and snowball sampling among college and university students in Pakistan (N=51).
  • Administered an anonymous online questionnaire measuring digital learning strain, social media usage, and adapted items based on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale and Perceived Stress Scale.
  • Analyzed associations and group differences using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and independent-samples t tests.
  • Problematic social media use was positively correlated with anxiety (r(49) = .42, p = .002), stress (r(49) = .42, p = .002), and concentration difficulty (r(49) = .43, p = .002), while digital-learning fatigue correlated with stress (r(49) = .53, p < .001).
  • Stress was negatively correlated with self-rated academic performance (r(49) = -.30, p = .031), whereas total daily social media hours were not significantly associated with anxiety, stress, or performance.
  • Male respondents reported higher problematic social media use scores than female respondents (t(49) = 2.29, p = .026), with no significant gender differences observed for stress, anxiety, or academic performance.

Cite This Study

Sidra Tul Muntaha (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a86b5c58a91293e6a1cd45fhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21992592
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