Caught in the Scroll: Assessing the Extent of Doomscrolling and Its Psychological Impact among Undergraduate Students

Background: The internet serves as a major source of information and communication, but has also fostered maladaptive behaviours such as doomscrolling—the compulsive consumption of negative online content. While moderate information-seeking can enhance awareness, excessive engagement with distressing news may lead to psychological consequences such as anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms. Understanding this emerging phenomenon is crucial, especially among young adults who are frequent social media users. Materials and Methods: A descriptive research design was adopted. A total of 390 undergraduate students were enrolled through a total enumeration sampling technique. Data were collected using standardised self-administered tools: the Doomscrolling Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Version 20 to compute descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, prevalence) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) to determine associations between variables. Results: Among the 390 participants, 343 (87.8%) exhibited mild doomscrolling behavior, while 4 (1.1%) demonstrated severe doomscrolling tendencies. A statistically significant association was found between doomscrolling and sociodemographic variables, including gender, socioeconomic status, marital status, type of electronic device used, number of social media platforms accessed, and type of platforms used (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Compulsive engagement with negative online content adversely affects mental well-being. The findings highlight that doomscrolling contributes to increased anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms among students. Promoting awareness about healthy online habits and strategies to break the doomscrolling cycle can help improve psychological resilience and overall quality of life.