Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-7-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Sarah Bilsky
Second Advisor
John Young
Third Advisor
Brandon Nabors
Relational Format
Abstract
Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental window in which significant transitions increase vulnerability to mental health challenges. Additionally, emerging adults are spending large amounts of time on social media sites. Recent literature suggests that problematic social media use and social media appearance preoccupation could all play a role in increased anxiety, depression, and poorer sleep outcomes in young people. However, to our knowledge, few studies have directly examined the associations among all of these variables specifically in the emerging adult population. The current study was designed to examine these associations among 178 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 24 years (M age = 21.77; SD = 2.04). Participants completed numerous self-report questionnaires assessing problematic social media use, social media appearance preoccupation, insomnia symptoms, daytime sleepiness, and psychological distress. To test our hypotheses, we conducted Bivariate correlations. Partially consistent with hypotheses, results of the study demonstrate that there are certain social media-related factors that correlate with sleep and emotional distress outcomes. Social media appearance preoccupation and problematic social media use were both related to insomnia symptoms, daytime tiredness, and psychological distress. Additionally, insomnia symptoms were positively related to psychological distress, although insomnia symptoms were not significantly related to daytime tiredness. Our results indicate that both problematic social media use and social media appearance preoccupation are associated with poorer sleep and greater emotional distress in emerging adults. There is a need for future research to focus on understanding how social media engagement contributes to sleep disruption and psychological distress during emerging adulthood.
Recommended Citation
Gisclair, Lily, "The Associations Between Problematic Social Media Use, Social Media Appearance Preoccupation, And Sleep Quality Among Emerging Adults" (2026). Honors Theses. 3486.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3486