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Healthcare
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The Influence of Social Media on Health Behavior
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The Influence of Social Media on Health Behavior

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 3193

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Amar Kanekar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Litttle Rock, AR 72204, USA
Interests: health education; public health; epidemiology; research methods; obesity prevention; global health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Manoj Sharma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. Department of Internal Medicine, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Interests: substance abuse prevention; substance abuse behavior; alcohol and drug education; integrative health; community-based participatory research/evaluation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use and application of social media platforms have been ubiquitous now for personal and professional use. The application of social media as well as social media-based campaigns for health behavior change has been a complex process (Batra & Sharma, 2023; Ghahramani, de Courten & Prokofieva, 2022).

The purpose of this Special Issue is to generate a body of evidence related to the use and application of social media in influencing behavior change such that healthy behaviors are adopted and maintained in adolescents, young adults, adults, and older adults across the nation and beyond. We are anticipating and open to receiving a wide variety of manuscripts such as theoretical/invited papers, original research articles depicting experimental and non-experimental studies, state-of-the-art reviews (narrative, systematic, and scoping) along with critical essays. Research areas of interest will include, but not be limited to, social media tools for health behavior survey design and implementation, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media in designing and implementing health behavior interventions, innovative application of social media tools and platforms in initiation and sustenance of health behavior among diverse populations.

Prof. Dr. Amar Kanekar
Prof. Dr. Manoj Sharma
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • social media
  • behavior change
  • adolescents
  • adults
  • interventions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

18 pages, 641 KB  
Review
A Scoping Review of the Use and Determinants of Social Media Among College Students
by Anam Fatima, Md. Sohail Akhter, Amar Kanekar, Sharmistha Roy, Rupam Mitra, Blessing Imade and Manoj Sharma
Healthcare 2025, 13(17), 2234; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13172234 - 6 Sep 2025
Viewed by 1873
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Use of social media among college students is ubiquitous. Excessive use of social media has been linked to distractions, reduced academic focus, and poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression. The determinants of social media use among college students [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Use of social media among college students is ubiquitous. Excessive use of social media has been linked to distractions, reduced academic focus, and poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression. The determinants of social media use among college students are not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review on the behavioral, demographic, and psychosocial determinants, explore theoretical frameworks, and suggest evidence-based recommendations. Methods: This scoping review was conducted between January 2024 and May 2025 following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, using MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, and ERIC databases. Peer-reviewed studies were included if they focused on college students (ages 18–30), investigated determinants of social media use, and met predefined inclusion criteria. Results: A total of 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States, and the majority used cross-sectional designs (n = 20). A consistent finding across the reviewed studies was the strong association between social media overuse and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional dysregulation. Very few theoretical frameworks for understanding the determinants of social media were used. According to the reviewed studies, factors such as fear of missing out, sleep quality, and prolonged social media use consistently emerged as significant predictors of adverse mental health outcomes (p < 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, problematic social media use (PSMU) was linked to increased mental health issues, suggesting that students frequently engage in social comparison and experience feelings of missing out (FoMO), which exacerbate emotional distress. There is a need for integrated approaches in addressing PSMU within educational environments, particularly in fostering healthier digital habits among students. There is a need to conduct more concerted research using longitudinal designs and contemporary theoretical frameworks in this area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Influence of Social Media on Health Behavior)
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