Understanding the Effect of Social Media Use on Psychological Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022 ◽  
pp. 228-249
Author(s):  
Niall Murphy ◽  
Deepak Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Psychological Stress ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Media Usage

This study examines the effect of the modern technology of social media on psychological stress during Irish COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Literature indicates mixed findings regarding social media usage and psychological stress. Acknowledging its multifaceted nature, social media use in this study is examined through the category usage motivators of consuming, participating, and producing. Usage motivators significantly indicate variations in terms of impact on stress. Social media use for the purpose of consuming is moderately correlated with increased levels of psychological stress. Social media use for the purpose of participating exhibits a weak correlation with decreasing levels of psychological stress. Social media use for the purpose of producing exhibits no significant relationship with psychological stress during quarantine. Findings of this study are valuable for government and corporate policy makers and mental health and marketing professionals, with implications in psychological wellbeing practices and mindful social media use during quarantine.

Social Media Use in College-age Youth: A Comprehensive Review and a Call to Action

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Hilary Holmes ◽  
Alba E. Lara ◽  
Gregory S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Health Awareness ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
College Age ◽  
Mental Health Awareness ◽  
Privacy Breaches

Background: Social media is a relatively new and impactful way to connect millions of people around the world. The intersection of mental health and social media is a poorly studied, yet important area of research. Specifically, with regard to college-aged youth, social media can potentially offer an educational tool to enhance mental health awareness or augment treatment when it is used for professional purposes by mental health advocates or healthcare professionals. There is also the added risk of disinformation, cyberbullying, and privacy breaches. Objective: This review aims to assess the current state of social media use and its influence on mental health, especially in college-age youth. Methods: The authors of this paper utilized PubMed and Medline databases to review the most recent experimental studies and literature reviews available on the topic of mental health and social media. Results: Abstracts and relevant papers were read in full, and information from these studies was cited accordingly. Conclusion: The authors conclude that although more research needs to be conducted, social media may offer benefits for mental health awareness, education, and treatment, specifically in populations such as college-age youth.

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.

The effect of social media use on empathy and welling: a personality perspective in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mousa Albashrawi ◽  
Yousef Asiri ◽  
Muhammad Binsawad ◽  
Latifah Alqahtani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media use on both empathy and well-being through using a five-factor model (FFM) of personality in the context of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the 13 regions in Saudi Arabia. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the reliability and validity of the study’s constructs and a structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the study hypotheses. Findings With a sample of 450 users, the regression results indicate a less significant relationship between personality and social media use, as well as between personality and affective empathy, while a more significant relationship between personality and cognitive empathy. Also, individuals’ well-being are influenced directly by the heavy use of social media. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design used in this research may not be able to provide the true essence of the hypothesized relationships compared to the cause-effect design. This study furthers the understanding of the role of personality on empathy and well-being in social media among Saudis from one side and provides insights to professionals for better improvement of social media and so better individuals’ well-being from the other side. Originality/value This paper fills an untapped gap in a developing country context by exploring the relationship between the usage of social media and the two dimensions of empathy, which, in turn, influence well-being under the theoretical lens of an FFM personality.

Divergent effects of social media use on meaning in life via loneliness and existential isolation during the coronavirus pandemic

2022 ◽  
pp. 026540752110669
Author(s):  
Peter J. Helm ◽  
Tyler Jimenez ◽  
Madhwa S. Galgali ◽  
Megan E. Edwards ◽  
Kenneth E. Vail ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Media Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Emotional Loneliness

Stay-at-home orders issued to combat the growing number of infections during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 had many psychological consequences for people including elevated stress, anxiety, and difficulty maintaining meaning in their lives. The present studies utilized cross-sectional designs and were conducted to better understand how social media usage related to people’s subjective isolation (i.e., social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential isolation) and meaning in life (MIL) during the early months of the pandemic within the United States. Study 1 found that general social media use indirectly predicted higher MIL via lower existential isolation and social isolation. Study 2 replicated these patterns and found that social media use also predicted lower MIL via higher emotional loneliness, and that the aforementioned effects occurred with active, but not passive, social media use. Findings suggest social media use may be a viable means to validate one’s experiences (i.e., reduce existential isolation) during the pandemic but may also lead to intensified feelings concerning missing others (i.e., increased emotional loneliness). This research also helps to identify potential divergent effects of social media on MIL and helps to clarify the relationships among varying types of subjective isolation.

scholarly journals U.S. adolescents’ mental health and COVID-19-related changes in technology use, Fall 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor A. Burke ◽  
Emily R. Kutok ◽  
Shira Dunsiger ◽  
Nicole R. Nugent ◽  
John V. Patena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Media And Technology ◽  
School Status

Preliminary reports suggest that during COVID-19, adolescents’ mental health has worsened while technology and social media use has increased. Much data derives from early in the pandemic, when schools were uniformly remote and personal/family stressors related to the pandemic were limited. This cross-sectional study, conducted during Fall 2020, examines the correlation between mental wellbeing and COVID-19-related changes in technology use, along with influence of COVID-19-related stressors, school status (in-person versus remote), and social media use for coping purposes, among 978 U.S. adolescents. Results suggest self-reported daily social media and technology use increased significantly from prior to COVID-19 through Fall 2020. Increased social media use was significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms regardless of other theoretical moderators or confounders of mental health (e.g., demographics, school status, importance of technology, COVID-19-related stress). Despite literature suggesting that remote learning may result in adverse mental health outcomes, we did not find local school reopening to be associated with current depressive/anxiety symptoms, nor with COVID-19-related increases in technology use. Self-reported use of social media for coping purposes moderated the association between increased social media use and mental health symptoms; in other words, some social media use may have positive effects. Although much prior research has focused on social media use as a marker of stress, we also found that increased video gaming and TV/movie watching were also associated with internalizing symptoms, in accordance with others' work. Future research should explore in more granular detail what, if any, social media and technology use is protective during a pandemic, and for whom, to help tailor prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Social media and mental health: Reviewing effects on eudaimonic well-being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
Omission Bias ◽  
Health And Well Being

Do social media affect users’ mental health and well-being? By now, considerable research has addressed this highly contested question. Prior studies have investigated the effects of social media use on hedonic well-being (e.g., affect and life satisfaction), psychopathology (e.g., depressive or anxiety symptoms), or psychosocial risk/resilience factors (e.g., loneliness, stress, self-esteem). Yet, public concern over social media effects often centers on more long-term negative outcomes, which may be better captured by indicators of eudaimonic well-being. Indeed, neglecting the eudaimonic side of well-being may have introduced outcome omission bias, since eudaimonia is both conceptually and empirically distinct from other dimensions of mental health and may be uniquely affected by social media use. Specifically, psychology currently theorizes eudaimonic well-being to be best represented by the experiences of (a) meaningfulness, (b) authenticity, and (c) self-actualization. A research synthesis of how social media use relates to these core indicators of eudaimonia is currently missing, however. We thus present a first narrative review that synthesizes both theoretical and empirical links between three key social media uses (i.e., active, passive, and “screen time”) and eudaimonic well-being. The synthesis shows that while there are indeed several plausible theoretical links, the evidence is too scarce and inconsistent to allow definitive conclusions at this time. We instead give recommendations for how the field can close important gaps by investigating whether social media afford or constrain opportunities to find meaning, live authentically, and grow as a person.

The Role of Social Media in Adolescent Loneliness and Mental Health Problems: Current Evidence and Suggestions for Future Work

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warner Myntti ◽  
Jensen Spicer ◽  
Carol Janney ◽  
Stacey Armstrong ◽  
Sarah Domoff
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Relationship

Adolescents are spending more time interacting with peers online than in person, evidencing the need to examine this shift’s implications for adolescent loneliness and mental health. The current review examines research documenting an association between social media use and mental health, and highlights several specific areas that should be further explored as mechanisms within this relationship. Overall, it appears that frequency of social media use, the kind of social media use, the social environment, the platform used, and the potential for adverse events are especially important in understanding the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health.

Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health

2022 ◽  
pp. 170-186
Author(s):  
Drew P. Cingel ◽  
Michael C. Carter ◽  
Lauren B. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Social Media Use
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