Keywords

Emerging Adults, Social Media Use, Social Skills, COVID-19,

Abstract

The current study examined how social media has had both negative and positive effects during, before, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between social media use during the pandemic and decreased social skills of emerging adults. Additionally, the study also hypothesized that loneliness would relate to a decrease in social skills. Finally, it was hypothesized that loneliness would mediate the relationship between social media use during the pandemic and decreased social skills. The results of the current study indicated that there was a mediational relationship between social media use, increased feelings of loneliness, and decreased social skills such as conversation, self-exposure, and academic and work skills.

Thesis Completion Year

2024

Thesis Completion Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair

Chrysalis Wright

College

College of Sciences

Thesis Discipline

Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Campus Access

Length of Campus Access

1 year

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Subjects

Social skills--Research; Loneliness--Research; Social media and college students; Social media--Psychological aspects; COVID-19 (Disease)--Social aspects

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Restricted to the UCF community until 5-15-2025; it will then be open access.

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Rights Statement

In Copyright