Background and purpose: Social network analysis has emerged as a key and important technique in social communication science, as well as a popular topic in the field of thought and study. The current research was conducted with the aim of determining the predictive role of social networks and emotional relationships on the internet on the mental health and quality of life of students.

Research method: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on 350 students of Alborz University of Medical Sciences who were selected by available sampling method. Data were collected using five questionnaires of socio-economic status, social networks, emotional relationships on the Internet, stress, anxiety, depression scale (DASS-21), quality of life and demographic characteristics checklist. Data were analyzed in SPSS-25, PLS-3 and Lisrel-8.8 software.

Findings: According to path analysis, DASS-21 score had the most positive and significant causal relationship with Internet emotional relationships in the direct path (B = 0.22) and the most negative relationship with socio-economic status (B = -0.09). Quality of life had the highest negative causal relationship with DASS-21 score in the direct path (B = -0.26) and the highest positive relationship with socio-economic status in the indirect path (B = 0.02). The average duration of using social networks (B≈ − 0.07) and Internet emotional relationships (B≈ − 0.09) had the most negative relationship with quality of life.

Conclusion: The use of Internet, emotional relationships on the Internet, and unfavorable socio-economic status were associated with higher DASS-21 scores and lower quality of life in students.