The Impact of Social Media on College Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Multinational Review of the Existing Literature

UNSTRUCTURED Users of highly visual social media (HVSM), such as Snapchat and Instagram, share their messages through images, rather than relying on words. A significant proportion of people that use these platforms are adolescents. Previous research reveals mixed evidence regarding the impact of online social technologies on this age group’s mental wellbeing, but it is uncertain whether the psychological effects of visual content alone differ from text-driven social media. This scoping review maps existing literature that has published evidence about highly visual social media, specifically its psychological impact on young people. Nine electronic databases and grey literature from 2010 until March 2019 were reviewed for articles describing any aspect of visual social media, young people and their mental health. The screening process retrieved 239 articles. With the application of eligibility criteria, this figure was reduced to 25 articles for analysis. Results indicate a paucity of data that exclusively examines HVSM. The predominance of literature relies on quantitative methods to achieve its objectives. Many findings are inconsistent and lack the richness that qualitative data may provide to explore the reasons for theses mixed findings.

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Medicated bodies: Mental distress, social media and affect

New Media & Society ◽

10.1177/1461444816664347 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 549-563 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ian Tucker ◽

Lewis Goodings

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Mental Distress ◽

The Body ◽

Psychiatric Medication ◽

Social Media Site ◽

Health Social Media ◽

Care Practices ◽

The Impact

Social media are increasingly being recruited into care practices in mental health. This article analyses how a major new mental health social media site ( www.elefriends.org.uk ) is used when trying to manage the impact of psychiatric medication on the body. Drawing on Henri Bergson’s concept of affection, analysis shows that Elefriends is used at particular moments of reconfiguration (e.g. change in dosage and/or medication), periods of self-experimentation (when people tailor their regimen by altering prescriptions or ceasing medication) and when dealing with a present bodily concern (showing how members have a direct, immediate relationship with the site). In addition, the analysis illustrates how users have to structure their communication to try to avoid ‘triggering’ distress in others. The article concludes by pointing to the need to focus on the multiple emerging relationships between bodies and social media in mental health, due to the ways the latter are becoming increasingly prominent technologies through which to experience the body when distressed.

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Social Media

Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology - Returning to Interpersonal Dialogue and Understanding Human Communication in the Digital Age ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-4168-4.ch003 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 47-68

Author(s):

Elham Mohammadi ◽

Azam Masoumi

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Human Interaction ◽

Face To Face ◽

The Impact ◽

Two Sides ◽

Modern Technologies

This chapter examines the path of human interaction by using modern technologies. There are two sides: those in favor of using modern technologies and those who argue that modern technologies have unwanted, detrimental effects on people's lives and health. This chapter explores virtual communication's properties. It focuses on the impact that using social media instead of face-to-face interaction has on the users' health, specifically mental health. In this viewpoint, social media is not an alternative to face-to-face interaction but a complementary device that reminds us the vitality of interaction even with those who are physically unavailable to us.

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Self-reported psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Nepal: findings from an online survey

BMC Psychology ◽

10.1186/s40359-020-00497-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kamal Gautam ◽

Ramesh P. Adhikari ◽

Aman Sen Gupta ◽

Rajan Kumar Shrestha ◽

Pitambar Koirala ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Online Survey ◽

Family Income ◽

Virus Disease ◽

Psychological Wellbeing ◽

The Past ◽

Psychological Impacts ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background A lower respiratory tract infection caused by novel coronavirus termed as Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) was first identified in China and subsequently took the form of pandemic. Studies on disease outbreak in the past and recent COVID-19 outbreak have demonstrated increased psychological distress and adverse impacts on mental health and psychological wellbeing of people. However, the impact of COVID-19 on psychological wellbeing of people in Nepal hasn't been studied adequately. So, this paper aims to report the findings from a social media survey on psychological impacts of COVID-19 in Nepal. Methods Data were collected through social media from 2082 Nepalese respondents between 23rd April, 2020 and 3rd May, 2020. A total of 2014 respondents who were currently residing in Nepal were included in the analysis. Results The study suggested that half of the respondents suffered from at least one symptom of psychological distress whereas 32% suffered from two or more symptoms of psychological distress such as restlessness, fearfulness, anxiety and worry and sadness in the past 2 weeks preceding the survey date. The findings further suggested that respondents having lower family income, residing in rented room, and participants from province 2 were more likely to suffer from both single and multiple symptoms of psychological distress. Conclusion The study has shown high prevalence of psychological distress amongst the Nepalese respondents following COVID-19 outbreak. Appropriate mental health and psychosocial support response needs to be instituted to adequately respond to psychological impacts of the epidemic.

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Physical Health, Media Use, and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents With ADHD During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia

Journal of Attention Disorders ◽

10.1177/1087054720978549 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 108705472097854

Author(s):

Emma Sciberras ◽

Pooja Patel ◽

Mark A. Stokes ◽

David Coghill ◽

Christel M. Middeldorp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Depressed Mood ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Family Time ◽

Children With Adhd ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

The Impact

Objective: To examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Parents of 213 Australian children (5–17 years) with ADHD completed a survey in May 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place (i.e., requiring citizens to stay at home except for essential reasons). Results: Compared to pre-pandemic, children had less exercise (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3–0.6), less outdoor time (OR = 0.4; 95% 0.3–0.6), and less enjoyment in activities (OR = 6.5; 95% CI 4.0–10.4), while television (OR = 4.0; 95% CI 2.5–6.5), social media (OR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.3–4.5), gaming (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.3–3.0), sad/depressed mood (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.8), and loneliness (OR = 3.6; 95% CI 2.3–5.5) were increased. Child stress about COVID-19 restrictions was associated with poorer functioning across most domains. Most parents (64%) reported positive changes for their child including more family time. Conclusions: COVID-19 restrictions were associated with both negative and positive impacts among children with ADHD.

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BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF ADOLESCENT’S STUDENTS ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK AND ITS IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Acta Neuropsychologica ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0013.6550 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 427-439

Author(s):

ISMAIL LOURAGLI ◽

Ahmed Ahami ◽

Abderrazak Khadmaoui ◽

Youssef Aboussaleh ◽

Anass Chaker Lamrani

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Neurocognitive Performance ◽

First Semester ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Adolescent Students ◽

Facebook Addiction ◽

Use Of Social Media ◽

The Impact

The massive use of social media, especially Facebook, has an impact on student’s neurocognitive performance and mental health in Morocco. The purpose of this study is to show the impact of the Facebook addiction, especially with Smartphone on school performance and mental health. On the methodological part a questionnaire was used beside the Bergan Facebook Addiction Scale Test (BFAS) which has been validated in the Arab version with Cronbach's Alpha (α = 0.788), and the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) Arabic version, with a general anxiety test, which are distributed to 541 participants in the middle and the high schools of Kenitra city 55.1% of girls and 44.9% of boys have a mean age of 15.238 years, SD = ± 0.06. The results obtained confirmed by a negative correlation in relationship with the first semester general score and Facebook addiction by the BFAS test, and a significant relationship between the increase in Facebook addiction in parallel with the state of anxiety (P <.001) and Nomophobia (P <.000). We have been able to pick up the negative impact of the social media exposure on the performance and mental health of adolescent students. in order to have a solution from this plague in the future.

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Social media monitoring of mental health during disasters: A scoping review of methods and applications

10.31234/osf.io/ykz2n ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Samantha Teague ◽

Adrian B. R. Shatte ◽

Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz ◽

Delyse Hutchinson

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Health Assessment ◽

Statistical Modelling ◽

Health Impact ◽

Intervention Delivery ◽

Social Media Monitoring ◽

Media Monitoring ◽

The Impact

BackgroundDifficulties in deploying mental health assessments during disasters have resulted in emerging research examining the use of social media as a population mental health monitoring tool. This review synthesises this literature, with particular focus on research methods and applications.MethodsThe field of social media monitoring of mental health during disasters was rapidly mapped using a scoping review methodology. Six interdisciplinary research databases were searched for relevant articles, with data extracted on the articles’ applications and data collection and analysis methods. Articles were then synthesised via narrative review.ResultsForty-seven papers were identified. Three application themes emerged, including: (i) estimating mental health burden; (ii) planning or evaluating interventions and policies, and (iii) knowledge discovery, where theories of human behaviour and mental health were evaluated. Applications across 30 mental health issues were identified, with mental health typically assessed using established linguistic dictionaries. Features extracted from social media data included linguistic, psycholinguistic, behavioural, and demographic features. Analytic techniques involved machine learning, statistical modelling, and qualitative analyses.ConclusionsThe application of social media monitoring has considerable potential for measuring the mental health impact on populations during disasters. As an emerging field, opportunities for further work were identified to improve mental health assessment methods, examine specific mental health conditions, and trial tools in real-world settings. Platforms integrated with such techniques may offer significant benefits for monitoring mental health in contexts where formal assessments are difficult to deploy, and may potentially be harnessed to monitor the impact of response efforts and intervention delivery.

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The Impact Of Social Media On The Mental Health Of Student-Athletes

10.30707/etd2021.20210719070603171210.92 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica Brougham

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Student Athletes ◽

The Impact

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A Hybrid Deep Learning Model to Predict the Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health form Social Media Big Data

10.20944/preprints202106.0654.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tapotosh Ghosh ◽

Md. Hasan Al Banna ◽

Md. Jaber Al Nahian ◽

Kazi Abu Taher ◽

M Shamim Kaiser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Big Data ◽

Language Processing ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Significant Rise ◽

Special Focus ◽

The Impact

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is provoking a prevalent consequence on mental health because of less interaction among people, economic collapse, negativity, fear of losing jobs, and death of the near and dear ones. To express their mental state, people often are using social media as one of the preferred means. Due to reduced outdoor activities, people are spending more time on social media than usual and expressing their emotion of anxiety, fear, and depression. On a daily basis, about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated on social media, analyzing this big data can become an excellent means to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on mental health. In this work, we have analyzed data from Twitter microblog (tweets) to find out the effect of COVID-19 on peoples mental health with a special focus on depression. We propose a novel pipeline, based on recurrent neural network (in the form of long-short term memory or LSTM) and convolutional neural network, capable of identifying depressive tweets with an accuracy of 99.42%. Preprocessed using various natural language processing techniques, the aim was to find out depressive emotion from these tweets. Analyzing over 571 thousand tweets posted between October 2019 and May 2020 by 482 users, a significant rise in depressing tweets was observed between February and May of 2020, which indicates as an impact of the long ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

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Qatar - Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health in Pandemics (Q-LAMP)

University of the Future: Re-Imagining Research and Higher Education ◽

10.29117/quarfe.2020.0287 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Salma Khaled ◽

Peter Haddad ◽

Majid Al-Abdulla ◽

Tarek Bellaj ◽

Yousri Marzouk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Living Arrangements ◽

Online Survey ◽

Social Impact ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Longitudinal Assessment ◽

The Impact

Aims: Q-LAMP aims to identify risk factors and resilience factors for symptoms of psychiatric illness during the pandemic. Study strengths include the 1-year longitudinal design and the use of standardized instruments already available in English and Arabic. The results will increase understanding of the impact of the pandemic on mental health for better support of the population during the pandemic and in future epidemics. Until an effective vaccine is available or herd immunity is achieved, countries are likely to encounter repeated ‘waves’ of infection. The identification of at-risk groups for mental illness will inform the planning and delivery of individualized treatment including primary prevention. Methodology: Longitudinal online survey; SMS-based recruitment and social media platforms advertisements e.g. Facebook, Instagram; Online consent; Completion time for questionnaires: approx. 20 to 30 minute; Baseline questionnaire with follow up at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months; Study completion date: Sept. 2021. Inclusion criteria: Currently living in Qatar; Qatari residents: citizens and expatriates; Age 18 years; read Arabic or English (questionnaire and consent form available in both languages). Instruments: Sociodemographic questionnaire including personal and family experience of COVID-19 infection; Standard instruments to assess psychiatric morbidity including depression, anxiety and PTSD; research team-designed instruments to assess social impact of pandemic; standard questionnaires to assess resilience, personality, loneliness, religious beliefs and social networks. Results: The analysis was based on 181 observations. Approximately, 3.5% of the sample was from the sms-recruitment method. The sample of completed surveys consisted of 65.0% females and 35.0% males. Qatari respondents comprised 27.0% of the total sample, while 52% of the sample were married, 25% had Grade 12 or lower level of educational attainment, and 46.0% were unemployed. Covid-19 appears to have affected different aspects of people’s lives from personal health to living arrangements, employment, and health of family and friends. Approximately, 41% to 55% of those who responded to the survey perceived changes in their stress levels, mental health, and loneliness to be worse than before the pandemic. Additionally, the wide availability of information about the pandemic on the internet and social media was perceived as source of pandemic-related worries among members of the public. Conclusion: The continued provision of mental health service and educational campaigns about effective stress and mental health management is warranted.

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