Computer-Mediated Communication and Mental Health

Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Emese Domahidi ◽  
Elisabeth Günther

The relationship between computer-mediated communication (e.g., Internet or social media use) and mental health has been a long-standing issue of debate. Various disciplines (e.g., communication, psychology, sociology, medicine) investigate computer-mediated communication in relation to a great variety of negative (i.e., psychopathology) and positive (i.e., well-being) markers of mental health. We aim at charting this vast, highly fragmented, and fast growing literature by means of a scoping review. Using methods of computational content analysis in conjunction with qualitative analyses, we map 20 years of research based on 1,780 study abstracts retrieved through a systematic database search. Results reveal the most common topics investigated in the field, as well as its disciplinary boundaries. Our review further highlights emerging trends in the literature and points to unique implications for how future research should address the various relationships between computer-mediated communication and mental health.

2020 ◽  
pp. 009365022095822
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke

Computer-mediated communication (CMC), and specifically social media, may affect the mental health (MH) and well-being of its users, for better or worse. Research on this topic has accumulated rapidly, accompanied by controversial public debate and numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Yet, a higher-level integration of the multiple disparate conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH and individual review findings is desperately needed. To this end, we first develop two organizing frameworks that systematize conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH. Based on these frameworks, we integrate the literature through a meta-review of 34 reviews and a content analysis of 594 publications. Meta-analytic evidence, overall, suggests a small negative association between social media use and MH. However, effects are complex and depend on the CMC and MH indicators investigated. Based on our conceptual review and the evidence synthesis, we devise an agenda for future research in this interdisciplinary field.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke

Computer-mediated communication (CMC), and specifically social media, may affect the mental health (MH) and well-being of its users, for good or bad. Research on this topic has accumulated rapidly, accompanied by controversial public debate and numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Yet, a higher-level integration of the various disparate conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH and individual review findings is desperately needed. To this end, we first develop two organizing frameworks that systematize conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH. Based on these frameworks, we integrate the literature through a meta-review of 34 reviews and a content analysis of 594 publications. Meta-analytic evidence, overall, suggests a small negative association between social media use and MH. However, effects are complex and depend on the CMC and MH indicators investigated. Based on our conceptual review and the evidence synthesis, we devise an agenda for future research in this interdisciplinary field.


Author(s):  
Shawn D. Long ◽  
Marla D. Boughton ◽  
Rachel Widener

Due to their hierarchical structure and limited resources, organizations are inherently political. Employees need to know how to “play the game” in order to get ahead. In this chapter, we provide a background on politics, examining how the study of politics has evolved over time. We also examine the relationship between politics and similar constructs, such as authority, power, and influence. We then apply politics to an increasingly common organizational structure—virtual teams. Based upon research on trust, resource allocation, and influence in virtual teams, we suggest that, rather than being attenuated in the virtual environment, politics may in fact become exacerbated by the use of computer-mediated communication. We end the chapter with suggestions for future research on politics in virtual teams.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Fuhrer ◽  
Alain Cucchi

This article explores the relationship between social capital in a professional network and ICT use. It examines the context in which the main ICT networks are used and shows how they are conditioned by the social capital of an individual within their professional network. To do so, different measures from Social Network Analysis are used. An exploratory study on a group of 199 students is presented. The studied Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) media are electronic mail, telephone, Skype, and Facebook. The results show the important position of an actor in the networks of exchanges. The results also show that ICT uses have different contexts involving different degrees of confidence in the network. Email is shown to be influenced by trust centrality and centrality at work while telephone is more influenced by influence centrality. The authors conclude on the prospects for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Baumel ◽  
Mara Hamlett ◽  
Brittany Wheeler ◽  
Deborah Hall ◽  
Ashley K. Randall ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon L. Boring ◽  
Kaitlyn T. Walsh ◽  
Namrata Nanavaty ◽  
Vani A. Mathur

The experience of pain is subjective, yet many people have their pain invalidated or not believed. Pain invalidation is associated with poor mental health, including depression and lower well-being. Qualitative investigations of invalidating experiences identify themes of depression, but also social withdrawal, self-criticism, and lower self-worth, all of which are core components of shame. Despite this, no studies have quantitatively assessed the interrelationship between pain invalidation, shame, and depression. To explore this relationship, participants recounted the frequency of experienced pain invalidation from family, friends, and medical professionals, as well as their feelings of internalized shame and depressive symptoms. As shame has been shown to be a precursor for depression, we further explored the role of shame as a mediator between pain invalidation and depressive symptoms. All sources of pain invalidation were positively associated with shame and depressive symptoms, and shame fully mediated the relationship between each source of pain invalidation and depression. Relative to other sources, pain invalidation from family was most closely tied to shame and depression. Overall, findings indicate that one mechanism by which pain invalidation may facilitate depression is via the experience of shame. Future research may explore shame as a potential upstream precursor to depression in the context of pain. Findings provide more insight into the harmful influence of pain invalidation on mental health and highlight the impact of interpersonal treatment on the experiences of people in pain.


2012 ◽  
pp. 1088-1095
Author(s):  
Kumi Ishii ◽  
Brittany R. Black

With the diffusion of networked technology in our society, online communication has become an integral part of daily life, and conflict no longer occurs only in face-to-face (FtF) contexts. Many people experience cyber conflict (i.e., a perceived incompatibility of goals among two or more cyber parties over computer-mediated communication (CMC) or online communication) and manages it online. While research in this significant and emerged topic is scattered across contexts and disciplines, this chapter provides preliminary knowledge by discussing the antecedents and outcomes of cyber conflict as well as factors that affect cyber conflict management. The chapter also offers future research directions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-43
Author(s):  
Kun Xu ◽  
Tony Liao

Abstract Cues have long been an important concept in computer-mediated communication (CMC), as several core theories have utilized cues to explain how they get filtered and interpreted through technologies. As computing technologies evolved, other related fields have also adopted cues as a concept for understanding technological interaction. Given the pervasive nature of cues, this article first explicates the concept and creates a typology of cues based on how different fields have studied them. It then examines key differences in how existing theories approach cues and their assumptions behind cues, and further pulls apart the relationship between different cue categories and their potential effects on social presence. Lastly, we explain how researchers could draw on this typology to understand the increasingly multifaceted ways that emerging media technologies present cues and evoke social presence. A clear typology of cues is necessary both to clarify the term and help guide future evolutions of CMC.


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