Understanding the theology students' positive religious coping, problematic social media use and depression levels effect on flourishing: A hybrid sem-ann approach

Abstract

In this study, a research model was developed that aimed to explore the influence of theology students' positive religious coping (PRC), problematic social media use (PSMU), and depression levels on their flourishing. A combined covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) model were used to assess the developed model. Data were collected from 501 respondents using validated survey instruments, including the Religious Coping Scale, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, DAS-21 Depression subscale, and the Flourishing Scale. The respondents, 28.5% male participants and 71.5% female participants, within the age bracket of 18 to 34 years (mean = 22.79 years, SD = 4.12). The CB-SEM results indicated that depression levels and PSMU were significantly related to PRC. The results further indicated that PRC was positively related to and explained 40% of the variance in the flourishing factor. The ANN model predicted flourishing with an accuracy of 72% and 81.8% for training and testing, respectively. Confirming the CB-SEM results, the ANN demonstrated that PRC was the most important variable in predicting flourishing. These findings have practical implications for institutions of religious training to address depression levels and PSMU and encourage PRC among theology students. Future research should investigate longitudinal relationships and the impact of specific religious coping strategies on flourishing.