Social Media Use and PTSD Survey Data from South African University Students

South African university student survey data investigating the relationship between social media use and post-traumatic stress disorder. The dataset, 29.2 KB in size, was authored by Tyrone Pretorius and last updated on April 12, 2026. It focuses on the roles of appraisals of problem-solving ability and social support as protective factors.

Use Cases

• Train models to predict PTSD risk based on social media usage patterns described in the study.
• Analyze the mediating role of problem-solving appraisals between social media use and mental health outcomes.
• Investigate the relationship between perceived social support and PTSD symptoms in a student population.

Strengths

• Dataset is small (29.2 KB), facilitating quick download and initial exploration.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, allowing for broad reuse and sharing.
• Focuses on a specific, understudied demographic (South African university students).

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic and demographic bias inherent to the single-university survey source.

Provenance

Source

Tyrone Pretorius via figshare.

Collection Method

Likely gathered via survey from university students.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-12 12:14:38; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South Africa