Social Support Systems and Techno-stress as Predictors of Emotional Well-being among University Students in Web-based Education in Bihar

Abstract

The present study investigated the role of social support systems and techno-stress in the emotional well-being of students enrolled in web-based university education in Bihar. In today’s time, online learning is becoming very common, but for many students it is not always smooth because of digital pressure, limited resources, and less real-life interaction. The study was conducted on a sample of 400 university students selected from different public universities of Bihar through purposive sampling, including 214 boys and 186 girls. The mean age of boys was 24.3 years (SD = 2.11) and girls was 23.5 years (SD = 1.98). Tools used were a 6-item Social Support Questionnaire (Sarason et al., 1983), the Technostress Scale adapted from Wang et al. (α = 0.921), and Mental Health Continuum–Short Form (MHC–SF) based on Keyes’ framework (2002). Results showed that social support had a significant positive relationship with emotional well-being (r = 0.42, p < .001), while techno-stress had a significant negative relationship (r = -0.46, p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that both variables significantly predicted emotional well-being (R² = 0.34). The study highlights that emotional health in online education depends not only on academics, but also on human support and technology stress.