Model Structure of Social Network Addiction among Male and FemaleStudents

Most of the people have at least one smartphone, spending most of their time, approximately 20 hours a week, on their smartphone. The main purpose of the current research was to study model structureof social network addiction among male and female students.

In terms of purpose, the research is practical and in terms of data collection method is descriptive based on survey. In spite of various social networks, only two, Telegram and Instagram, have been chosen. The statistical population of the study were5196 students studying in Azad Islamic University, GarmsarBranch.Student form of Social media addiction scale (SMAS-SF) and demographic information questionnaire were applied to all the research participants.

Among 397 subjects, 114 individuals, 28.7% usedonly Telegram, 72 individuals usedonly Instagram and 211 of them use both Telegram and Instagram.Comparing the means shows that Internet addiction among male students washigher than female ones(p<0.05). The results of ANOVA showed the highest social network addiction is among the age groups 25 years and younger, and the lowest mean is for the age group 41 years and older.

According to the results of the research, it can be concluded that among the students of the sample, the rate of addiction to social networks is higher than average, and the necessary interventionsshould be provided to solve this problem.