Social Media Use and Academic Burnout among Pharmacy Students: Does Self-Regulated Learning Moderate the Relationship?
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Abstract
Background and Aim: Academic burnout has become a major concern among pharmacy students due to intensive academic demands, including laboratory activities, complex coursework, and continuous assessments. Social media use has been identified as a potential factor contributing to academic burnout, while self-regulated learning may serve as a protective personal resource. However, empirical findings regarding the role of self-regulated learning in this relationship remain limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the effect of social media use on academic burnout and to investigate whether self-regulated learning moderates this relationship among pharmacy students.
Materials and Methods: This study employed a quantitative correlational design with a moderating variable approach. Participants consisted of 319 pharmacy students from private universities in Banyumas, Central Java, Indonesia, selected using proportionate stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Survey (MBI-SS), the Social Media Use Scale (SMUS), and the Self-Regulated Learning Scale (SSRL). Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.
Results: The findings indicated that social media use had a positive and significant effect on academic burnout (β = 0.130, t = 2.845, p = 0.004), suggesting that higher levels of social media engagement were associated with greater academic burnout. Self-regulated learning demonstrated a significant negative effect on academic burnout (β = –0.480, t = 10.184, p < 0.001), indicating that students with stronger self-regulated learning skills experienced lower levels of burnout. However, the interaction effect between social media use and self-regulated learning was not significant (β = –0.015, t = 0.319, p = 0.749), indicating that self-regulated learning did not moderate the relationship between social media use and academic burnout.
Conclusion: Social media use contributes significantly to academic burnout among pharmacy students, whereas self-regulated learning functions as an independent protective factor that reduces burnout. However, self-regulated learning does not buffer the adverse effects of social media use on academic burnout. These findings highlight the importance of promoting healthy social media habits and strengthening students’ self-regulated learning competencies to support academic well-being.
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