scholarly journals Promoting Mental Wellbeing: Young Adults’ Experience on TikTok during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-28
Author(s):  
Silas Udenze ◽  
Chinwe Elizabeth Uzochukwu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Young People ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
The World ◽  
Negative Effect

From the last quarter of 2019, the world witnessed the emergence of the COVID -19 virus that shook it to its knees, and Nigeria is not an exception. While countries were struggling with strategies on how to manage the virus, the lockdown option became paramount. During the period of the lockdown in Nigeria, most persons, especially young people, could not visit places of their choice. Hence, social media became their source of solace. This study examines the experiences of young adults in using TikTok to minimise the negative effect of isolation during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. The authors interviewed ten young persons between the ages of 19 to 31. A thematic analysis of the interviews using Braun and Clark (2006) steps for conducting thematic analysis revealed four overarching themes that describe the participants’ experiences on TikTok during the lockdown. Prominent among the themes, the study uncovered how TikTok short videos  excelled  in  impacting  the  research participants therapeutically;  easing  boredom,  and  impacting positively on their mental health. The present study suggests that TikTok short videos could be a phenomenon  that  could  be  adopted  by  individuals  or  even  health  professionals,  especially psychotherapists  in  managing  or  treating  patients  in  similar  situations  like  the  COVID-19 compulsory lockdown.

The Relationship Between Highly Visual Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanna McCrory
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
The Impact

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.

scholarly journals Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle O’Reilly ◽  
Nisha Dogra ◽  
Natasha Whiteman ◽  
Jason Hughes ◽  
Seyda Eruyar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Discourses

Despite growing evidence of the effects of social media on the mental health of adolescents, there is still a dearth of empirical research into how adolescents themselves perceive social media, especially as knowledge resource, or how they draw upon the wider social and media discourses to express a viewpoint. Accordingly, this article contributes to this scarce literature. Six focus groups took place over 3 months with 54 adolescents aged 11–18 years, recruited from schools in Leicester and London (UK). Thematic analysis suggested that adolescents perceived social media as a threat to mental wellbeing and three themes were identified: (1) it was believed to cause mood and anxiety disorders for some adolescents, (2) it was viewed as a platform for cyberbullying and (3) the use of social media itself was often framed as a kind of ‘addiction’. Future research should focus on targeting and utilising social media for promoting mental wellbeing among adolescents and educating youth to manage the possible deleterious effects.

scholarly journals The Negative Impact of Social Media during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-507
Author(s):  
Astha Kumari
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The World ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Government ◽  
World Information

It has been observed that social media platforms have had both a positive and negative effect on how India has dealt with the COVID 19 pandemic. As the coronavirus took over the world, many took to social media to learn about how the virus spreads and what it is. Although this helped inform everyone on how to take precautions against this deadly virus, a lot of the information that users were reading was not verified or fact-checked and labeled as "fake news". In the modern world, information is spread very quickly through a variety of social media platforms. Because of this, there was widespread panic even before the COVID-19 virus had even reached India. Many citizens bought an excessive surplus of supplies such as masks, hand sanitizers, and food, which ultimately led to a shortage of these supplies for the 1.3 billion people in this country. The shortage of supplies along with the lockdown process which severely impacted the economy has led to an increase in price to the majority of essential products such as food, hand sanitizers, masks, etc. The most affected were the average day workers. Social media has caused widespread panic and hogging of essential supplies along with false facts of the virus itself, however, there are some things that we have benefited from due to social media. For example, social media has shown us the importance of social distancing and activities that we can do to keep our mental health in check while under lockdown. In short, I believe social media should be regulated and kept under watch by the government in certain aspects when it comes to spreading information about pandemics like covid19. If regulated properly we can avoid mass panic and anarchy and will be able to survive this pandemic as one.

Resisting the Silence

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 1011-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Gibson ◽  
Jan Wilson ◽  
Jade Le Grice ◽  
Fred Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Control Information ◽  
The Subject

Suicide prevention strategies include attempts to control information young people receive about suicide, but digital communication provides young people with alternative forums to engage with this issue. This article explores the constraints and opportunities for youth to talk about suicide in New Zealand. A thematic analysis of data from focus groups with young people suggests they resist what they see as a taboo on talking about suicide, see adults as unwilling to engage in conversations with them about suicide, and are reluctant to seek help for suicide from mental health professionals. They prefer to talk about suicide with peers, although there are challenges with doing this in person. Access to digital communication may provide young people with alternative forums to communicate about suicide which further undermines their willingness to engage with adults on the subject. This has led to a gap in communication between youth and adults on suicide.

Finding Specialized Programs for Early Psychosis

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T Compton ◽  
Beth Broussard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Early Psychosis ◽  
Mental Health Clinics ◽  
The World ◽  
More Care ◽  
Group Meetings ◽  
Doctor's Office

Most of the time, people of all different ages and with all sorts of mental illnesses go to the same place to see a doctor, get medicines, or participate in counseling. That is, they go to mental health clinics or the office of a mental health professional that provides treatments for a number of different illnesses. Most young people who have psychosis get their medical care and treatment in a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office. In these places, the doctors and other mental health professionals may have taken special classes about how to help young people with psychosis, but that may not be their only focus. They may see people with other illnesses too. However, in some places around the world, there are special clinics that are for people in the early stages of psychosis. These types of specialized programs have been developed recently, since the 1990s. These programs have a number of different types of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and others. In some programs, mental health professionals and doctors in training may rotate through the clinic spending several months at a time training in the clinic. Some programs, like the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operate within the framework of a youth health service. Such youth services treat all sorts of mental health issues in young people. Other programs are located primarily in adult mental health facilities. Such programs may offer classes or group meetings just for people who recently developed psychosis and other classes or group meetings especially for the families of these young people. Typically, these programs provide someone with 2–3 years of treatment. They usually do a full evaluation of the patient every few months and keep track of how he or she is doing. If the patient needs more care afterwards, they help him or her find another program for longer-term care. In this chapter, we list some of these clinics located in various parts of the world and describe what these specialized early psychosis programs provide.

The Relationship Between Highly Visual Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanna McCrory
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
The Impact

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.

Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health among Children and Youth

2020 ◽  
pp. 228-243
Author(s):  
Jessica N. Fish ◽  
Laura Baams ◽  
Jenifer K. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Gender Minority ◽  
The World ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
And Gender

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) young people are coming of age at a time of dynamic social and political changes with regard to LGBTQ rights and visibility around the world. And yet, contemporary cohorts of SGM youth continue to evidence the same degree of compromised mental health demonstrated by SGM youth of past decades. The authors review the current research on SGM youth mental health, with careful attention to the developmental and contextual characteristics that complicate, support, and thwart mental health for SGM young people. Given a large and rapidly growing body of science in this area, the authors strategically review research that reflects the prevalence of these issues in countries around the world but also concentrate on how mental health concerns among SGM children and youth are shaped by experiences with schools, families, and communities. Promising mental health treatment strategies for this population are reviewed. The chapter ends with a focus on understudied areas in the SGM youth mental health literature, which may offer promising solutions to combat SGM population health disparities and promote mental health among SGM young people during adolescence and as they age across the life course.

scholarly journals Plurality in the Measurement of Social Media Use and Mental Health: An Exploratory Study Among Adolescents and Young Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110353
Author(s):  
Diamantis Petropoulos Petalas ◽  
Elly A. Konijn ◽  
Benjamin K. Johnson ◽  
Jolanda Veldhuis ◽  
Nadia A. J. D. Bij de Vaate ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Media Effects ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Quadratic Functions ◽  
Adolescents And Young Adults ◽  
Social Media Use

On a daily basis, individuals between 12 and 25 years of age engage with their mobile devices for many hours. Social Media Use (SMU) has important implications for the social life of younger individuals in particular. However, measuring SMU and its effects often poses challenges to researchers. In this exploratory study, we focus on some of these challenges, by addressing how plurality in the measurement and age-specific characteristics of SMU can influence its relationship with measures of subjective mental health (MH). We conducted a survey among a nationally representative sample of Dutch adolescents and young adults ( N = 3,669). Using these data, we show that measures of SMU show little similarity with each other, and that age-group differences underlie SMU. Similar to the small associations previously shown in social media-effects research, we also find some evidence that greater SMU associates to drops and to increases in MH. Albeit nuanced, associations between SMU and MH were found to be characterized by both linear and quadratic functions. These findings bear implications for the level of association between different measures of SMU and its theorized relationship with other dependent variables of interest in media-effects research.

Asking the Hard Questions: Psychologists’ Discomfort With Inquiring About Sexual Abuse Histories

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110145
Author(s):  
Belinda Nixon ◽  
Elly Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Early Career Psychologists ◽  
University Training

The literature on sexual abuse indicates low rates of inquiry by mental health professionals. This study explores early career psychologists’ experiences of inquiry into their clients’ sexual abuse histories. Twelve Australian psychologists participated in semi-structured interviews with transcripts analyzed using thematic analysis. The vast majority of participants reported that they did not routinely inquire about sexual abuse with barriers including not knowing what to do, discomfort, stigma, and fear of negative outcomes. Participants asserted that their university training in sexual abuse inquiry was inadequate. Findings emphasize the need for the development of an evidence-based framework for sexual abuse training.

scholarly journals Mental health and wellbeing implications of the COVID-19 quarantine for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people: evidence from a cross-cultural study in Zambia and Sierra Leone

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren Sharpe ◽  
Mohsen Rajabi ◽  
Clement Chileshe ◽  
Sitali Mayamba Joseph ◽  
Ibrahim Sesay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Income Loss ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Children And Young People

Abstract Background The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining on children and young people (CYP) living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has yet to be fully comprehended. CYP in LMICs are at utmost risk, given the COVID-19-related restrictions and social distancing measures, resulting in reduced access to school-based services for nutritional and mental health needs. This study examined mental health of CYP during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Zambia and Sierra Leone. Method A total of 468 disabled and disadvantaged CYP aged 12 to 25 completed a planning tool that comprised the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), as well as open-ended questions covering social connectedness, physical distancing and educational challenges during the lockdown. The community coaches screened individuals and families who could be eligible to receive emergency aid, and based on a convenience sample following distribution of aid, recipients were invited to complete the planning tool. Results The data showed that participants in the global south have increasing anxieties and fears centred on accessing offline educational resources and income loss in the family effecting food security and their ability to return to education. Mean (SD) SWEMWBS scores for all participants in Zambia and Sierra Leone, were 19.61 (3.45) and 21.65 (2.84), respectively. Mental well-being scores were lower in females, children aged 12–14 and participants with two or more disabilities. Factors significantly associated with poor mental wellbeing in the sample were: type of disability, nationality, peer relationships, connection to others during the pandemic, knowledge about COVID-19, worry about the long-term impact of COVID-19, and the types of self-isolating. Conclusion The study shows that participants who self-reported low levels of COVID-19 health literacy also scored low on the mental wellbeing self-assessment. Yet, despite undoubted limited resources, these CYP are doing well in identifying their needs and maintaining hope in the face of the problems associated with COVID-19 in countries where stigma persists around mental ill-health.

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