A Correlational Study of Doomscrolling Behavior and Sleep Disturbance among Undergraduate College Students of, Bihar

Description

Vijay Pratap Singh (Department of Psychology, B.M.A College, Baheri, Darbhanga, Bihar)

The present study tries to understand the relationship between doomscrolling behaviour and sleep disturbance among undergraduate college students of Darbhanga, Bihar. Doomscrolling behaviour is a behaviour characterised by access to negative online content on different social media platforms. Excess exposure to negative news and information may affect psychological well-being and sleeping patterns among adults who are vulnerable to such digital behaviour due to academic necessity. The study used a correlational design to explore the relationship between doomscrolling behaviour and sleep disturbance among undergraduate college students of Darbhanga. A sample of 100 undergraduate college students of Darbhanga, Bihar, aged between 18 to 24 years, was used by using convenience sampling technique. 100 students were equally divided into male and female students. Data were collected using a self-constructed Doomscrolling Behavior Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI, Buysse & others, 1989). Mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and the t-test were used for data analysis. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between doomscrolling behavior and sleep disturbance, indicating that higher levels of doomscrolling were associated with greater sleep-related problems. The study also found significant gender differences in both doomscrolling behavior and sleep disturbance, with female students scoring higher on both variables than male students. These findings are consistent with previous research and are discussed in light of relevant literature and the researcher’s interpretations.