Impact of social media on learning outcomes and mental health among students at non-public universities in Ho Chi Minh City

This study examines the impact of social media on students’ learning outcomes and mental health and tests the mediating role of smart learning perception. Data were collected from 324 students at non-public universities in Ho Chi Minh City and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results show that social media positively affects smart learning perception and mental health but has no statistically significant direct effect on learning outcomes. Smart learning perception positively influences both learning outcomes and mental health. It fully mediates the relationship between social media and learning outcomes and partially mediates the relationship between social media and mental health. The findings extend the S-O-R framework in the context of Vietnamese higher education and provide managerial implications for universities regarding effective social media use, digital learning ecosystems, technology-enhanced teaching, and student mental health support.