Tag: social media

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Frequent YouTube Use Tied to Loneliness and Mental Health Problems

On By ModernMedia
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Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP). Published online in MDPI, their study found that the most severely impacted were those under age 29, or who regularly watched content about other people’s lives.

Lead author Dr Luke Balcombe said the development of parasocial relationships between content creators and followers could be cause for concern, however some neutral or positive instances of creators developing closer relationships with their followers also occurred.

“These online ‘relationships’ can fill a gap for people who, for example, have social anxiety, however it can exacerbate their issues when they don’t engage in face-to-face interactions, which are especially important in developmental years,” he said.

“We recommend individuals limit their time on YouTube and seek out other forms of social interaction to combat loneliness and promote positive mental health.”

Dr Balcombe said the amount of time spent on YouTube was often a concern for parents, who struggled to monitor their children’s use of the platform for educational or other purposes.

In the study, two hours per day of YouTube consumption was classed as high frequency use and over five hours a day as saturated use.

In addition, the study determined more needed to be done to prevent suicide-related content being suggested to users by YouTube algorithms. 

While ideally, people shouldn’t be able to search for these topics and be exposed to methods, the YouTube algorithm does push recommendations or suggestions based on previous searches, which can send users further down a disturbing ‘rabbit hole’. 

Users can report this type of content, but sometimes it may not be reported, or it could be there for a few days or weeks and with the sheer volume of content passing through, it’s almost impossible for YouTube’s algorithms to stop all of it.

If a piece of content is flagged as possibly containing suicide or self-harm topics, YouTube then provides a warning and asks the user if they want to play the video.

“With vulnerable children and adolescents who engage in high frequency use, there could be value in monitoring and intervention through artificial intelligence,” Dr Balcombe said.

“We’ve explored human–computer interaction issues and proposed a concept for an independent-of-YouTube algorithmic recommendation system which will steer users toward verified positive mental health content or promotions.

“YouTube is increasingly used for mental health purposes, mainly for information seeking or sharing and many digital mental health approaches are being tried with varying levels of merit, but with over 10,000 mental health apps currently available, it can be really overwhelming knowing which ones to use, or even which ones to recommend from a practitioner point of view.

“There is a gap for verified mental health or suicide tools based on a mix of AI-based machine learning, risk modelling and suitably qualified human decisions, but by getting mental health and suicide experts together to verify information from AI, digital mental health interventions could be a very promising solution to support increasing unmet mental health needs.”  

Source: EurekAlert!

Categories : General Interest Medical IndustryTags :

The Rising Trend of Patients who Become Social Media Influencers

On By ModernMedia
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Patients-turned-social-media-influencers routinely offer prescription drug advice to their followers and often have close ties with pharmaceutical companies, according to new research the Journal of Medical Internet Research – though they often have good intentions.

In recent weeks, social media has pushed the diabetes drug Ozempic as a weight loss drug, while patients who need the medication to manage their disease have faced global shortages. Those taking it “off-label” to slim down have experienced surprising side-effects, including violent diarrhoea and extreme facial thinning.

The study by University of Colorado Boulder provides some of the first insights into the burgeoning, loosely regulated world of so-called “patient influencers”.

“The bottom line here is that patient influencers act as a form of interactive direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, sharing their knowledge and experiences on pharmaceutical drugs with communities of followers in which they wield great influence,” said author Erin Willis, an associate professor of advertising, public relations and media design. “This raises ethical questions that need more investigation.”

A new kind of advertising

Controversial from its start in the 1980s, and still only available in the United States and New Zealand, DTC advertising enables drug companies to target consumers directly, rather than exclusively through physicians. About half of the people who ask their doctor about a drug after seeing a TV ad get it.

With trust in pharmaceutical companies and traditional media declining, drug makers are now turning to real patients as messengers, with companies like Health Union connecting them for partnerships.

Willis conducted interviews with 26 influencers with a range of conditions, including lupus, HIV and chronic migraines. Eighteen of the 26 collaborated with a pharmaceutical company in some way.

Most had between 1000 and 40 000 followers. Such “micro influencers” tend to be less expensive for advertisers to work with than celebrities, and research has shown they have the most influence on purchasing behaviours, said Willis.

Some interviewees posted company press releases directly. Others read studies about drugs and translated results for followers. Some were paid to post content for drug companies.

“Health literacy and digital literacy are both concerningly low in this country,” said Willis, noting that consumers often fail to recognise the difference between a sponsored ad and an altruistic personal post. “The fact that patients with no medical training are broadly sharing drug information should alarm us.”

Good intentions

On the positive side, Willis was heartened by the reasons participants become influencers. Almost all said they were drawn to their roles by a sense that the answers they sought as patients, didn’t exist in other channels.

“I spent a lot of time looking for diabetes information that related to me – an African American woman from the South,” reported one study participant. “I didn’t see what I needed, so I created it.”

Others were motivated by a wish to destigmatise disability in certain communities.

“There’s still not a lot of talk about Latinos and HIV,” said another participant. “When there was information, it wasn’t culturally appropriate.”

Five said they never share information about drugs, stating that they believed it was “borderline unethical.”

Others said they would only post about drugs they personally had been prescribed and taken and always encouraged followers to consult with their doctor. They all said they generally strived to behave ethically.

“It’s comforting that the people we interviewed generally want to stay abreast of the science and be a credible source,” said Willis. “But I also know that doctors go to medical school for a reason.”

Concerns abound

Several influencers reported that followers frequently private message them to get detailed information about dosage and side effects.

“In an online community, there are other people there to say, ‘That’s not true or that’s not what I experienced.'” Willis said. “But with social media, a lot of the conversation happens privately.”

Willis also worries that influencers may stress the upsides of medications without fully disclosing the side-effects. For instance, she references a famously controversial 2015 post by celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian, singing the praises of a “#morningsickness” drug called Diclegis to her tens of millions of followers on Instagram.

The Food and Drug Administration swiftly flagged the post for omitting the drug’s long list of risks, required Kardashian to remove the post and dinged the drug maker with a warning letter. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now requires influencers to disclose whether they are paid via hashtags, such as #ad or #sponcon, and the Food and Drug Administration has rules on what can be said on social posts. But those rules are open to interpretation, and videos, disappearing content and direct messaging can be tough to track.

Willis acknowledged that her sample was a small one and that because many of her interviewees were referred to her by Health Union, they likely skew to the responsible side. In future studies, she intends to include broader sample sizes, explore how influencers impact treatment decisions and investigate compensation for and regulations around patient influencers.

Analysts predict the influencer marketing industry as a whole will be valued at $21.1 billion in 2023.

As patient influencers increasingly find their place in it, Willis contends that regulators should work harder to keep up with all the new platforms.

“This is happening, with or without regulation, and people should be aware of it,” Willis said.

Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Depression Risk Increases with Greater Social Media Use

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A recent study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports has found that young adults who use more social media are significantly more likely to develop depression within six months, regardless of personality type. 

“Previous research has linked the development of depression with numerous factors,” the authors noted. “However, the literature has been lacking in studies that focus on how various personality characteristics may interact with social media use and depression. This new study addressed these important research questions, finding strong and linear associations of depression across all personality traits.”

People with high agreeableness were found to be 49% less likely to become depressed than people with low agreeableness. Additionally, those with high neuroticism were twice as likely to develop depression than those with low neuroticism when using more than 300 minutes of social media per day. More importantly, for each personality trait, social media use was strongly associated with the development of depression.

A 2018 sample of 18–30 year old US adults was analysed with the Patient Health Questionnaire to measure depression. Social media was measured by asking participants how much daily time was spent using popular social media platforms, and personality was measured using the Big Five Inventory, which assessed openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. 

The authors suggest that problematic social comparison can enhance negative feelings of oneself and others, which could explain how risk of depression increases with increased social media use. Engaging primarily in negative content can also enhance these feelings. And lastly, engaging in more social media reduces opportunities for in-person interactions and activities outside of the home.

Depression has been noted as the leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide. This makes these findings even more pronounced for creating health interventions and prevention efforts.

“Findings from this study are important during a time of technology expansion and integration,” said author Renae Merrill said, a doctoral student when writing the paper. “Connecting to people virtually may increase the risk of miscommunication or misperception that leads to relationship difficulties and potential risk for developing mental health problems.” 

“People have innate emotional needs for social connection and understanding,” Merrill added. “For example, social media experiences can be improved by becoming more aware of our emotions and our connection with others in various life circumstances. This awareness helps improve relationship quality by simply reaching shared meaning and understanding through more effective communication and concern for others and ourselves. Despite our differences, we have the ability to create a culture of empathy and kindness.” 

Source: University of Arkansas

Categories : ExerciseTags :

Lasting Benefits from Swapping 30 Minutes of Social Media for Exercise

On By ModernMedia
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In a study in the Journal of Public Health, participants who exchanged 30 minutes of social media use per day for exercise felt happier, more satisfied, less stressed by the COVID pandemic and less depressed than a control group. These effects persisted even six months after the study had ended.

The downside of social media

While it helped people stay connected during the COVID pandemic, social media consumption has also its drawbacks. Heavy use can lead to addictive behaviour that manifests itself in, for example, a close emotional bond to the social media. In addition, fake news and conspiracy theories can spread uncontrollably on social channels and trigger even more anxiety.

“Given that we don’t know for certain how long the coronavirus crisis will last, we wanted to know how to protect people’s mental health with services that are as free and low-threshold as possible,” explained assistant professor Dr. Julia Brailovskaia, who lead a team from the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. To find out whether the type and duration of social media use can contribute to this, she and her team conducted an experimental study, with a total of 642 participants randomised to one of four groups.

A two-week experiment

The first group reduced the daily social media consumption by 30 minutes during an intervention period of two weeks. Since previous studies had shown that physical activity can increase well-being and reduce depressive symptoms, the second group increased the duration of physical activity by 30 minutes daily during this period, while continuing to use social media as usual. The third group combined both, reducing social media use and increasing physical activity. A control group didn’t change the behaviour during the intervention phase.

Before, during and up to six months after the two-week intervention phase, the participants responded to online surveys on the duration, intensity and emotional significance of their social media use, physical activity, their satisfaction with life, their subjective feeling of happiness, depressive symptoms, the psychological burden of the COVID pandemic and their cigarette consumption.

Healthy and happy in the age of digitalisation

The findings clearly showed that both reducing the amount of time spent on social media each day and increasing physical activity have a positive impact on people’s well-being. The combination of the two interventions in particular increases one’s satisfaction with life and subjective feeling of happiness and reduces depressive symptoms. Even six months after the two-week intervention phase had ended, participants in all three intervention groups spent less time on social media than before: about a half hour in the groups that had either reduced social media time or increased their daily exercise, and about three-quarters of an hour in the group that had combined both measures. Six months after the intervention, the combination group engaged one hour and 39 minutes more each week in physical activity than before the experiment. The positive influence on mental health continued throughout the entire follow-up period.

“This shows us how vital it is to reduce our availability online from time to time and to go back to our human roots,” Julia Brailovskaia concluded. “These measures can be easily implemented into one’s everyday life and they’re completely free — and, at the same time, they help us to stay happy and healthy in the digital age.”

Source: Ruhr-University Bochum

Categories : General InterestTags :

Half of Teens Trust Fake Health News

On By ModernMedia
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A new study has found that teenagers have a hard time discerning between fake and true health messages. Only 48% of the participants trusted accurate health messages (without editorial elements) more than fake ones. Meanwhile, 41% considered fake and true neutral messages equally trustworthy and 11% considered true neutral health messages less trustworthy than fake health messages. The results highlight a need for better training of teenagers to navigate a world where fake health news is so widespread.

Health mis- and disinformation are a serious public health concern, with an increased spread of fake health news on social media platforms in the last few years. Previous research has shown that online health messages are mostly incomplete and inaccurate and have potentially harmful health information. Fake health news can lead to poor health choices, risk-taking behaviour, and loss of trust in health authorities.

“There has been an explosion of misinformation in the area of health during the COVID pandemic,” said principal investigator Dr Radomír Masaryk, of Comenius University.

While most research on message credibility has focused on adults, Dr Masaryk and his colleagues investigated whether teenagers are similarly equipped.

“As adolescents are frequent users of the internet, we usually expect that they already know how to approach and appraise online information, but the opposite seems to be true” Dr Masaryk said.

The researchers found that 41% of teenagers couldn’t tell the difference between true and fake online medical content. Additionally, poor editing of health messages was not perceived as a sign of low trustworthiness. These latest findings were published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Teenagers and the media

As so-called ‘digital natives’, modern teenagers are the world’s most well-connected group, with 71% of the world’s youth using the internet.

Studies have shown that teens increase their risky behaviour in response to positive portrayals of risky behaviour in the media, such as smoking and drinking. On the other hand, online health information that supports information provided by professionals can lead to healthy lifestyle changes, self-care, and treatment compliance.

Teenagers look at the structural features of a website, such as language and appearance, to evaluate online information. For example, authoritative organisations, trusted brands, or websites with business-like language tend to be more trusted.

Previous research on message trustworthiness with adolescents identified five editorial elements that deduced perceived message credibility: superlatives, clickbait, grammar mistakes, authority appeal, and bold typeface. Based on this prior study, the researchers developed a method to evaluate the effects of manipulation with content and format of health online messages on their trustworthiness in an adolescent sample.

They presented 300 secondary school students (aged between 16 and 19 years old) with seven short messages about the health promoting effects of different fruits and vegetables. The messages had different levels: fake message, true neutral message, and true message with editorial elements (superlatives, clickbait, grammar mistakes, authority appeal, and bold typeface). Participants were then asked to rate the message’s trustworthiness.

The participants were able to discern between overtly fake health messages and health messages whether true or slightly changed with editing elements; 48% of participants trusted the true neutral health messages more than the fake ones. However, 41% of participants considered fake and true neutral messages equally trustworthy and 11% considered true neutral health messages less trustworthy than fake health messages.

Clickbait less likely to work

“Putting trust in messages requires identification of fake versus true content,” said Dr Masaryk.

In the case of health messages that seem plausible and reasonable, teenagers could not tell the difference between true neutral health messages and health messages with editorial elements. Teenagers did not seem to decide on the trustworthiness of a message based on editing cues.

“The only version of a health message that was significantly less trusted compared to a true health message was a message with a clickbait headline,” continued Dr Masaryk.

The results highlight a need for better instruction of teenagers to spot editing cues that give away the quality of a piece of information. The authors suggest focusing on health literacy and media literacy training, and skills such as analytical thinking and scientific reasoning.

“Analytical thinking and scientific reasoning are skills that help distinguish false from true health messages,” Dr Masaryk concluded.

Source: Frontiers

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Screentime of Parents is a Problem Too

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Tracy le Blanc from Pexels
Photo by Tracy le Blanc from Pexels

Caregivers who consume digital media for relaxation are more likely to engage in negative parenting practices, according to a new multinational study.  The study, published in Computers and Human Behaviour, aimed to investigate the relationship between caregivers’ use of digital media, mental health, and parenting practices at the start of the COVID pandemic. 

On average, caregivers spend three to four hours a day consuming digital media.  

“All members of the family matter when we try to understand families in a society saturated with technology,” said study lead author Jasmine Zhang, a master’s candidate in clinical psychology at Waterloo. “It’s not just children who are often on devices. Parents use digital media for many reasons, and these behaviours can impact their children.” 

To conduct the study, the researchers surveyed 549 participants who are parents of at least two children between the ages of five and 18. Caregivers provided information about their digital use, their own mental health and their children’s, family functioning, and parenting practices.

The researchers found that caregivers with higher levels of distress engage in more screen-based activities and were more likely to turn to devices for relaxation. This consumption was correlated with negative parenting practices such as nagging and yelling. They also found that negative parenting behaviours were more likely when technology interrupted family interactions. The experiment didn’t focus on specific apps or websites that caregivers use but rather found that caregivers who spend time on screens were retreating from being present with their family, which is correlated with negative parenting practices.

Not all media consumption had negative outcomes: keeping in touch digitally was related to lower levels of anxiety and depression and higher levels of positive parenting practices such as listening to their children’s ideas and speaking of the good their children do.  

“When we study how parents use digital media, we need to consider caregivers’ motivations for using devices in addition to how much time they spend on them,” Zhang said. 

Study co-authore Dillon Browne, Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Clinical Psychology and professor of psychology at Waterloo, expects that these patterns will continue after the pandemic.

“The family media landscape continues to grow and become more prominent,” said Prof Browne. “Going forward, it’s important to consider the nuances of digital media as some behaviours are related to well-being, and others are related to distress.” 

The researchers plan further research and hope that their work will yield guidelines for caregivers to manage their screen-based behaviours. 

Source: EurekAlert!

Categories : General InterestTags :

Social Media Viewing of Tobacco Content Linked to Use

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People who have viewed tobacco content on social media are more than twice as likely than non-viewers to report using tobacco and, among those who have never used tobacco, more predisposed to use in the future.

A meta-analysis of 29 studies published in JAMA Pediatrics analysed data from a total of 139 624 participants. The study draws on data across age groups, countries, content types and platforms and is the first large-scale effort linking social media content to tobacco use.

“We casted a wide net across the tobacco and social media literature and synthesised everything into a single association summarising the relationship between social media exposure and tobacco use,” said Scott Donaldson, PhD, the study’s first author. “What we found is that these associations are robust and have public health implications at the population level.”

The findings come amid growing concerns about the potential harms of social media use, particularly among young people. They build a compelling argument that online tobacco content has the power to influence viewers’ offline tobacco use.

“The proliferation of social media has offered tobacco companies new ways to promote their products, especially to teens and young adults,” said Assistant Professor Jon-Patrick Allem, the paper’s senior author. “Our hope is that policymakers and other stakeholders can use our study as a basis for decision making and action.”

Effects across age, content type and platform

Compared to those not reporting exposure tobacco content, people who did report exposure were more than twice as likely to use tobacco in their lifetime, to have used it in the past 30 days, or to be susceptible to future tobacco use if they had never used tobacco before.

“Of particular importance is the fact that people who had never before used tobacco were more susceptible,” Prof Allem said. “This suggests that exposure to tobacco-related content can pique interest and potentially lead nonusers to transition to tobacco use.”

The sample included populations from across the United States, India, Australia, and Indonesia. Adolescents made up 72% of the participants, while young adults and adults accounted for 15% and 13%, respectively.

Tobacco content included both ‘organic’ or user-generated posts, such as videos of friends smoking or vaping, and promotional material, including advertising or sponsorships from tobacco companies. Items depicted in posts ranged from cigarettes and e-cigarettes to cigars, hookah and smokeless tobacco products. Tobacco content appeared on a range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest and Tumblr.

Both active engagement with tobacco content (eg commenting or liking) and passive engagement (just viewing) were associated with lifetime use, recent use and susceptibility to future use. People who saw content on two or more social media platforms faced even higher odds of use or susceptibility to use than those who saw tobacco-related content on just one platform.

The researchers suggest that future research should use longitudinal or experimental designs to determine whether exposure to tobacco content on social media directly leads to tobacco use. As the data in meta-analysis was drawn mostly from surveys conducted at a single point in time, a causal relationship between viewing and use could not be established.

Preventing harm from tobacco content

The study’s authors point to three levels of action that can help address the abundance of tobacco content on social media.

“First of all, we can work on designing and delivering interventions that counter the influence of pro-tobacco content, for example by educating teens about how the tobacco industry surreptitiously markets its products to them,” Allem said.

Social media platforms can also implement safeguards to protect users, especially young people, from tobacco content, for instance by including warning labels on posts that include tobacco-related terms or images. At the federal level, regulators might also choose to place stricter limits on the way tobacco companies are permitted to promote their products online.

The researchers next plan to explore the effectiveness and reach of social media tobacco prevention campaigns. They also aim to delve deeper into specific platforms used by young people, such as TikTok, and investigate how tobacco-related videos can impact susceptibility.

Source: University of Southern California

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Social Media Breaks Relieve Mental Health and Free up Time

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Advising people to take a week-long social media break could lead to significant improvements in their wellbeing, depression and anxiety and could become a recommended part of maintaining mental health, according to the authors of a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking.

University of Bath researchers studied the mental health effects of a week-long social media break. Some participants were able to free up 9 hours a week of time otherwise spent scrolling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

Their results suggest that just one week off social media improved individuals’ overall level of well-being, as well as reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

For the study, the researchers randomly allocated 154 individuals aged 18 to 72 who used social media every day into either an intervention group, where they were asked to stop using all social media for one-week or a control group, where they could continue scrolling as normal. At the beginning of the study, baseline scores for anxiety, depression and wellbeing were taken.

At the start of the study, average time spend on social media was 8 hours per week. After one week, the participants who were asked to take the one-week break had significant improvements in wellbeing, depression, and anxiety than those who continued to use social media, suggesting a short-term benefit.

Participants asked to take a one-week break reported using social media for an average of 21 minutes’ use compared to seven hours for the control group, with screen usage stats used to confirm adherence to the break. Lead researcher from Bath’s Department for Health, Dr Jeff Lambert explained: “Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that many of us do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night.

“We know that social media usage is huge and that there are increasing concerns about its mental health effects, so with this study, we wanted to see whether simply asking people to take a week’s break could yield mental health benefits.

“Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact.

“Of course, social media is a part of life and for many people, it’s an indispensable part of who they are and how they interact with others. But if you are spending hours each week scrolling and you feel it is negatively impacting you, it could be worth cutting down on your usage to see if it helps.”

The team’s next steps include investigating short breaks in different populations (eg younger people) and to increase follow up time. If benefits persist, they speculate that this could help in mental health management.

Over the past 15 years, social media has undergone explosive growth. In the UK the number of adults using social media increased from 45% in 2011 to 71% in 2021. As many as 97% of 16 to 44-year-olds use social media, with scrolling being most frequent online activity.

Feeling ‘low’ and losing pleasure are core characteristics of depression, whereas anxiety is characterised by excessive and out of control worry. Wellbeing refers to an individual’s level of positive affect, life satisfaction and sense of purpose. According to the UK mental health organisation Mind, one in six people experience a common mental health problem like anxiety and depression in any given week.

Source: University of Bath

Categories : Mental Health PaediatricsTags :

Negative Effects of Social Media on Girls and Boys

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Girls and boys might be more vulnerable to the negative effects of social media use at different times during their adolescence, according to a study in Nature Communications. Girls were found to experience a negative link between social media use and life satisfaction when they are 11–13 years old and boys when they are 14–15 years old. Increased social media use again predicts lower life satisfaction at age 19 years. At other times the link was not statistically significant.

Since its rapid emergence over a decade ago, social media has prompted concern over its possible impacts on wellbeing, especially in younger people.

A team of researchers analysed two UK datasets which included longitudinal data on 17 400 young people aged 10–21 years old. The team looked for a connection between estimated social media use and reported life satisfaction and found key periods of adolescence where social media use was associated with a decrease in life satisfaction 12 months later. Working backwards, the researchers also found that teens who have lower than average life satisfaction use more social media one year later.

In girls, social media use between ages 11 and 13 was associated with a drop in life satisfaction one year later, whereas in boys this occurred between 14 and 15. This suggests that sensitivity to social media use could be linked to developmental changes, possibly changes in the structure of the brain, or to puberty, which occurs later in boys than in girls.

In both females and males, social media use at the age of 19 years was again associated with a decrease in life satisfaction a year later. The researchers suggest that that social changes at this age, such as leaving home, may make people particularly vulnerable.

At other times, the link between social media use and life satisfaction one year later was not statistically significant. Decreases in life satisfaction also predicted increases in social media use one year later; however this does not change across age and or differ between the sexes.

Dr. Amy Orben, the study leader, said: “The link between social media use and mental wellbeing is clearly very complex. Changes within our bodies, such as brain development and puberty, and in our social circumstances appear to make us vulnerable at particular times of our lives.”

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a co-author of the study, said: “It’s not possible to pinpoint the precise processes that underlie this vulnerability. Adolescence is a time of cognitive, biological and social change, all of which are intertwined, making it difficult to disentangle one factor from another. For example, it is not yet clear what might be due to developmental changes in hormones or the brain and what might be down to how an individual interacts with their peers.”

Dr. Orben added: “With our findings, rather than debating whether or not the link exists, we can now focus on the periods of our adolescence where we now know we might be most at risk and use this as a springboard to explore some of the really interesting questions.”

A further complication is that social media use can negatively impact wellbeing, but also the reverse is true, previously reported and confirmed by this study.

The researchers stress that these population-level findings do not predict which individuals are most vulnerable.

Professor Rogier Kievit said: “Our statistical modeling examines averages. This means not every young person is going to experience a negative impact on their wellbeing from social media use. For some, it will often have a positive impact. Some might use social media to connect with friends, or cope with a certain problem or because they don’t have anyone to talk to about a particular problem or how they feel—for these individuals, social media can provide valuable support.”

Professor Andrew Przybylski said: “To pinpoint which individuals might be influenced by social media, more research is needed that combines objective behavioural data with biological and cognitive measurements of development. We therefore call on social media companies and other online platforms to do more to share their data with independent scientists, and, if they are unwilling, for governments to show they are serious about tackling online harms by introducing legislation to compel these companies to be more open.”

Source: University of Oxford

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Social Media Overuse Impacts Easily Distracted People Harder

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Photo by Tracy le Blanc from Pexels
Photo by Tracy le Blanc from Pexels

People who are easily distracted are more susceptible to psychological distress and mental health issues from high levels of social media use, according to a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The study tracked the phone data of 69 participants ranging from 18 to 58 year-olds to see their usage of popular apps including Instagram and Reddit over a week period.

Using an eye gaze test, the researchers tracked participants’ levels of distraction and inattention. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, a well-known psychological scale, was used to measure and quantify measures of distress.

Lead researcher Tamsin Mahalingham, Master’s student at Curtin University, said that the results showed a strong connection with low levels of attention control and high social media use negatively impacting mental health.

“Past research has flagged concerns about the negative mental health effects from high levels of social media use, but there isn’t clear evidence about why this is, or who might be most at risk,” Miss Mahalingham said.

“Our findings suggest that if you are a very distractable person, high levels of social media use may be particularly bad for your mental health. Study results revealed that those who showed lower levels of attention control were particularly at risk of negative mental health effects of heavy social media use.”

“This inability to stay focussed may lead to exposure to more irrelevant and distracting information and potentially longer durations of social media use. On the other hand, those with higher levels of attention control may be able to more easily ignore irrelevant and potentially damaging information in news feeds such as advertising.”

Supervising researcher, Dr Patrick Clarke, said that the increased follow-on effects of greater social media use that could negatively impact emotional wellbeing.

“Social media apps are designed to draw us in and keep us engaged and the longer we spend on social media, the more we can be exposed to including negative content, or content leading to self-comparison to unattainable ideals, like those often illustrated by influencers,” Dr. Clarke said.

“More time on social media also means less time doing other, possibly more important or more productive tasks, which can also increase feelings of depression and anxiety.

“Our research helps to understand who is most at risk from the adverse mental health effects of social media use and suggests that improving attention may minimize those risks.”

Source: Curtin University