Associations between Social Media Use and Risk-related Behaviours among High School Students in India

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21319044

Muhammad Hoque¹, Syed Manzoor Qadri², Anjum Afshan Qadri³, and Maqsood Ul Hassan Khan¹⁴ (Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa¹, Epidemiologist, Jammu and Kashmir Health Services, Kashmir, India^2,3, and Medical Officer Epidemiology, Epidemiologist, Jammu and Kashmir Health Services, Jammu and Kashmir⁴)

There has been an upsurge in the use of social media in adolescents, raising issues concerning their implications for sexual risk behaviours, especially in emerging nations such as India. This study examines the relationship between social media use and risky sexual behaviours in Indian high school students. A cross-sectional survey was done among 250 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years enrolled in high school institutions in India. Information was collected using structured questionnaires assessing social media use, exposure to sexual content and risky sexual behaviours. Thirty-seven percent of the students used social media more than four hours a day and 27% were involved in risky sexual behaviour. Social media use correlated significantly with risky sexual behaviour (χ² = 14.02; p = 0.001). Logistic regression showed that higher social media use was linked to risky sexual behaviour with odds ratio (OR) of 1.65 (95% CI: 1.152.37); exposure to sexual content and had more influence on risky sexual behaviour (Adjusted OR = 2.48; p < 0.001). There is a significant correlation between the active use of social media and risky sexual behaviours among high school students in India.