Social media addiction, social support and DASS-21 survey

Social media and student mental health is a topic of interest in psychology, public health and communication. This template combines the BSMAS of Andreassen et al. (2016), the MSPSS of Zimet et al. (1988) and the DASS-21 of Lovibond and Lovibond (1995), all short scales with published originals.

Research model

Suggested model, to be justified from your literature review: social media addiction increases depression, anxiety and stress; support from family and friends reduces these three states. Cross-sectional data show only associations and do not prove causation; write your hypotheses and conclusions accordingly.

• Social Media Addiction → Depression (positive)
• Social Media Addiction → Anxiety (positive)
• Social Media Addiction → Stress (positive)
• Family → Depression (negative)
• Family → Anxiety (negative)
• Family → Stress (negative)
• Friends → Depression (negative)
• Friends → Anxiety (negative)
• Friends → Stress (negative)

Questionnaire items

Original English wording. Answered on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree … 5 = Strongly agree) unless the scale page says otherwise; (R) marks a reverse-coded item.

Social Media Addiction (BSMAS) · Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale

Code	Item
SM1	You spend a lot of time thinking about social media or planning how to use it.
SM2	You feel an urge to use social media more and more.
SM3	You use social media in order to forget about personal problems.
SM4	You have tried to cut down on the use of social media without success.
SM5	You become restless or troubled if you are prohibited from using social media.
SM6	You use social media so much that it has had a negative impact on your job/studies.

Source: Andreassen et al. (2016). See Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale.

Family (FAM) · Perceived social support (MSPSS)

Code	Item
FAM3	My family really tries to help me.
FAM4	I get the emotional help & support I need from my family.
FAM8	I can talk about my problems with my family.
FAM11	My family is willing to help me make decisions.

Source: Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley (1988). See Perceived social support (MSPSS).

Friends (FRI) · Perceived social support (MSPSS)

Code	Item
FRI6	My friends really try to help me.
FRI7	I can count on my friends when things go wrong.
FRI9	I have friends with whom I can share my joys and sorrows.
FRI12	I can talk about my problems with my friends.

Source: Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley (1988). See Perceived social support (MSPSS).

Depression (D) · DASS-21 scale

Code	Item
D3	I couldn't seem to experience any positive feeling at all
D5	I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things
D10	I felt that I had nothing to look forward to
D13	I felt down-hearted and blue
D16	I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything
D17	I felt I wasn't worth much as a person
D21	I felt that life was meaningless

Source: Lovibond & Lovibond (1995). See DASS-21 scale.

Anxiety (A) · DASS-21 scale

Code	Item
A2	I was aware of dryness of my mouth
A4	I experienced breathing difficulty (eg, excessively rapid breathing, breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion)
A7	I experienced trembling (eg, in the hands)
A9	I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself
A15	I felt I was close to panic
A19	I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion (eg, sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)
A20	I felt scared without any good reason

Source: Lovibond & Lovibond (1995). See DASS-21 scale.

Stress (S) · DASS-21 scale

Code	Item
S1	I found it hard to wind down
S6	I tended to over-react to situations
S8	I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy
S11	I found myself getting agitated
S12	I found it difficult to relax
S14	I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing
S18	I felt that I was rather touchy

Source: Lovibond & Lovibond (1995). See DASS-21 scale.

Tips

• The three scales have three different response formats: BSMAS uses 1-5 frequency, MSPSS uses 7-point agreement, and DASS-21 uses 0-3 'how much it applied' ratings about the past week. Keep each original scale.
• Each DASS-21 subscale score must be multiplied by 2 before comparing it with severity cutoffs; if you only run regressions on continuous scores, state how you computed them.
• This template uses two sources of support (family, friends); if you add the 'significant other' items of the MSPSS, place all 12 items in their original order.
• BSMAS and DASS-21 are screening tools, not diagnostic ones. Follow your university's research ethics rules, include an informed consent form and list a psychological support contact at the end of the questionnaire.

Work out the minimum sample size for this model; once the data are in, clean the responses and run the survey data analysis for your results chapter.

Studies that used this model

• Duong, Bui, Duong and Duong (2026). Optimal Cut-Offs for Digital Addiction Scales as Preliminary Screening Proxies for Psychological Distress Symptoms Among Vietnamese Medical Students: A Single-Centre ROC Curve Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(8), 950. Sample: 600 medical students in southern Vietnam; BSMAS and DASS-21. Reliability: BSMAS α 0.849; DASS-21 depression 0.832, anxiety 0.838, stress 0.823 (Methods section).
• Doan, Le, Nguyen, Nguyen, Le, Vu, Latkin, Ho, Ho and Zhang (2022). Social Media Addiction among Vietnam Youths: Patterns and Correlated Factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 14416. Sample: 173 young people aged 16-30, online sample; BSMAS. Reliability: BSMAS α 0.81 (Methods section).
• Le, Tran, Holton, Nguyen, Wolfe and Fisher (2017). Reliability, convergent validity and factor structure of the DASS-21 in a sample of Vietnamese adolescents. PLOS ONE, 12(7), e0180557. Sample: 1,387 high school students in Hanoi; DASS-21 validation. Reliability: α 0.761-0.906 (abstract).
• Tran, Tran and Fisher (2013). Validation of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) 21 as a screening instrument for depression and anxiety in a rural community-based cohort of northern Vietnamese women. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 24. Sample: 221 rural women with young children in Ha Nam; DASS-21 validation. Reliability: α 0.70 (stress) to 0.88 (total) (abstract).
• Kieu, Vuong and Dung (2023). Validation of Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) in Vietnamese Among People Living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS and Behavior, 27(8), 2488–2496. Sample: 500 people living with HIV; validation of the Vietnamese MSPSS. Reliability: α 0.90; test-retest ICC 0.95 (abstract).

Collecting responses

If your own network cannot reach the target respondents, you can pay for verified responses through Genius Data (referral link, we may earn a commission), paying only for approved responses.