Perceived Online Social Support, Internet Addiction, and Psychological Wellbeing among University students

Abstract

This study aims to explore the relationship between perceived online social support, internet addiction, and psychological well-being among university students. A sample of 250 university students from different universities in Lahore was included in this study. A purposive sampling strategy was used to collect survey data using internationally standardized tools. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Hierarchical Linear Regression results showed that two subscales of perceived online social support, friends, and family, had a significant positive relationship with psychological well-being among university students. Among predictors, the current level of the semester and one subscale of perceived online social support- family, emerged as a significant positive predictor of psychological well-being among university students. The study concludes that family and friends are integral to the psychological well-being of university students and interventions must be planned to ensure that university students living far from home and those with excessive workloads have sufficient online and offline time with family and friends for mental health and well-being. Keywords: Online social support, internet addiction, psychological well-being, resilience, university students.