Abstract:
Social media has become an integral part of young people's lives. While its effects on students’ academic performance are extensively studied in the literature, there is still a lack of research on how social media combined with other lifestyle habits can affect academic performance in a developing country context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media and a collection of behavioral factors such as smoking, consuming alcohol, and romantic relationships on academic achievement in a context of developing countries. From a sample of 112 undergraduate students at a university in Lebanon, the study found that excessive social media use, smoking, and romantic relationships were significantly associated with a lower academic performance. No interactions have been detected between social media usage and other lifestyle habits. A classification model that predicts the likelihood of having good academic performance is also presented. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
