Evaluation of life styles satisfaction and social media addictions of Medical Faculty senior students during the pandemic period

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the healthy life behaviors, life satisfaction, and social media addictions of senior students of the Çukurova University Medical Faculty during the pandemic period and reveal their relationship with each other. Material and Method: Çukurova University senior students participated in the study through an online questionnaire. The data collected using the Sociodemographic Information Form, the Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form were analyzed with the statistical package program. Results: The mean age was 24.5±1.38 (22-31), and 55.8% of the 215 participants were female. More than 1/3 of the participants were outside the ideal body mass index. One in ten participants had a chronic illness. The average time spent on social media was 2.7 hours. All of the participants were using more than one social media platform, with an average of four. The most preferred platforms were WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, respectively. Participants mainly used social media to "follow the events and agenda." More than 2/3 of the participants stated that the use of social media increased during the pandemic period. A significant difference was found between those who use Twitter and Instagram and those who do not, in terms of Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form and Life Satisfaction Scale scores. When the participants who saw themselves as social media addicts were compared with other groups, their social media addiction scores were found to be significantly higher, and their life satisfaction scores were low. It was determined that the participants' time spent on social media was positively moderately correlated with their social media addiction scores and negatively correlated with their life satisfaction scores. There was a weak positive correlation between the number of social media platforms used and social media addiction scores and a weak negative correlation with life satisfaction scores. A weak negative correlation was found between social media addiction scores and life satisfaction scores. Conclusion: It was determined that the use of social media has increased during the pandemic period. In addition, the social media addiction scores of those who see themselves as social media addicts were significantly higher. Those with high social media addiction had less life satisfaction. While no significant difference was found between healthy lifestyle scale scores and social media addiction, a positive correlation was found with life satisfaction. Key words: Social media, addiction, life satisfaction, pandemic, healthy lifestyle