The role of sleep quality in the relationship between social media addiction and work–family conflict among nurses

Nurses often experience high occupational stress and irregular work schedules, which may be compounded by emerging behavioral patterns such as excessive social media use. However, the role of social media addiction in work–family conflict (WFC), particularly through its impact on sleep quality, remains underexplored. This study examined the relationship between social media addiction and WFC among nurses, with sleep quality as a potential mediator. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from 250 nurses (60 males and 190 females) working in public hospitals in the southwestern region of Nigeria. Standardized and validated instruments assessed social media addiction, sleep quality, and WFC. Mediation analyses using Hayes’ PROCESS macro with 5,000 bootstrap samples revealed that social media addiction was significantly positively associated with WFC in both directions: work interference with family and family interference with work. Sleep quality partially mediated these relationships, indicating that higher social media addiction predicts poorer sleep quality, which in turn exacerbates WFC. These findings suggest that workplace behavioral health programs, such as employee wellness initiatives, stress management workshops, and digital well-being interventions that promote sleep quality and responsible social media use, can help reduce work–family conflict and enhance nurses’ well-being and performance.