Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice

In the paper

“For individuals who openly discuss mental health problems on Twitter, a study by Berry et al. (2017) found that this served as an important opportunity to seek support and to hear about the experiences of others (Berry et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  In Results, Theme 1 (page not provided), users describe receiving support and connecting with people who have similar experiences. The Discussion, Principal Findings (page not provided), likewise says Twitter allowed users to communicate with and receive support from others with similar experiences. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Berry et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“while other studies have found that some individuals may prefer to seek help for mental health concerns online rather than through in-person encounters (Batterham & Calear, 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results section, “Preference for Online Programs Compared to Face-to-Face Programs” (page not provided), reports that 14.4% of participants would likely use online programs only for a personal or emotional problem. That supports the qualified claim that some individuals may prefer online help to in-person help, although face-to-face-only help was more common. (LLM, conf=0.92)

  cites Batterham & Calear, 2017 source

In the paper

“Individuals who self-identified as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder responded to a survey shared through the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), and reported that visiting social media sites was one of their most common activities when using digital devices, taking up roughly 2 hours each day (Gay, Torous, Joseph, Pandya, & Duckworth, 2016).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Methods section describes a NAMI-commissioned survey of people self-identifying as having schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or another schizophrenia spectrum disorder; some respondents were recruited through NAMI’s mailing list and website. The Results section (Purpose of Use) lists visiting social networking sites among the most common device activities, at 2.0 hours per day. (LLM, conf=0.92)

  cites Gay, Torous, Joseph, Pandya, & Duckworth, 2016 source

In the paper

“In a qualitative study, participants with schizophrenia described greater anonymity, the ability to discover that other people have experienced similar health challenges, and reducing fears through greater access to information as important motivations for using the Internet to seek mental health information (Schrank, Sibitz, Unger, & Amering, 2010).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  Split into 2 atoms — 2 confirmed, 0 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

  cites Schrank, Sibitz, Unger, & Amering, 2010 source

In the paper

“Recent studies have shown that individuals with mental disorders are increasingly gaining access to and using mobile devices, such as smartphones”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Results and Discussion report that mobile-phone ownership increased over time among people with psychosis, and the Results report daily use by some phone owners. The study does not establish an increasing trend in use or smartphone ownership, and its findings on ownership are specific to psychotic disorders rather than mental disorders generally. Page numbers are not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Firth et al., 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Glick, Druss, Pina, Lally, & Conde, 2016 source
• Partly supported

  The Discussion’s Principal Findings report that 62.5% of surveyed psychiatric outpatients owned smartphones and that 70.6% were interested in using them to monitor symptoms. The paper predicts that access and engagement will grow, but its survey does not establish that ownership or actual use was increasing over time. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Torous, Chan, et al., 2014 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Comparable findings were demonstrated among middle-age and older individuals with mental illness accessing services at peer support agencies, where 72% of respondents reported using social media (Aschbrenner, Naslund, Grinley, et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Discussion reports that 72% of peer support agency respondents used social media. However, the Abstract Methods describes the survey population as adults aged 18 and over; the 72% figure is not reported specifically for middle-aged and older respondents. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Aschbrenner, Naslund, Grinley, et al., 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Rates of social media use among psychiatric populations have increased in recent years”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Discussion concludes that a growing number of people with serious mental illness use social media, supporting the direction of the claim. But it frames this as a suggestion from survey data, not a measured increase in social-media-use rates over time, and it concerns people with serious mental illness rather than psychiatric populations generally. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

  cites Brunette et al., 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“participation in chat rooms may contribute to worsening symptoms in young people with psychotic disorders (Mittal, Tessner, & Walker, 2007)”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Results report that adolescents who spent more time in chat rooms had more severe schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) symptom ratings. The Discussion raises the possibility that reducing Internet access might reduce symptom severity, but says experimental studies are needed; it does not establish that chat-room participation worsens symptoms. The study concerns adolescents with SPD, not young people with psychotic disorders generally. (LLM, conf=0.85)

  cites Mittal, Tessner, & Walker, 2007 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“To date, this program has demonstrate preliminary effectiveness for meaningfully reducing cardiovascular risk factors that contribute to early mortality in this patient group (Aschbrenner, Naslund, Shevenell, Kinney, et al., 2016)”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Results report significant reductions in weight and BMI, with 28% of participants achieving clinically significant weight loss. The Introduction links obesity to reduced life expectancy and weight loss to lower cardiovascular risk. But fitness did not improve significantly, and the Conclusions say randomized trials are still needed to determine whether the intervention reduces obesity-related cardiovascular risk; the claim is broader than the pilot’s findings. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  cites Aschbrenner, Naslund, Shevenell, Kinney, et al., 2016 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“A computational study of mental health awareness campaigns on Twitter provides further support with inspirational posts and tips being the most shared (Saha et al., 2019).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion states that personal tips and inspiration were the most widely shared content categories by volume and reach in the Twitter campaign studied. This supports the citing sentence’s paraphrase. (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites Saha et al., 2019 source

In the paper

“more frequent visits to social media platforms each week were correlated with greater depressive symptoms (Lin et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Methods describe a survey of adults ages 19–32. The Results (Multivariable Analyses) report greater depression among participants with more social media site visits per week, with a significant linear dose-response trend. The claim describes an association, not causation. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Lin et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Studies consistently highlight that use of social media, especially heavy use and prolonged time spent on social media platforms, appears to contribute to increased risk for a variety of mental health symptoms and poor wellbeing, especially among young people (Andreassen et al., 2016; Kross et al., 2013; Woods & Scott, 2016).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Conclusions (p. 19) associate addictive social-media use with several psychiatric symptoms and lower age, supporting part of the claim. But this cross-sectional study does not show that social-media use contributes to those symptoms, and its measure of addictive use does not establish a risk from prolonged time spent on platforms generally. Its sample was predominantly adults, rather than specifically young people. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Andreassen et al., 2016 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  The Results (Facebook use and well-being; page unavailable) report that greater Facebook use predicted declines in life satisfaction, and the Methods identify the participants as young adults (mean age 19.52). This supports the claim about use and poorer well-being, but the study examined Facebook rather than social media platforms generally, did not establish effects of prolonged time spent, and did not report increased risk for a variety of mental health symptoms. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Kross et al., 2013 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  The Discussion (p. 14) reports that greater social media use among adolescents was associated with poorer sleep, higher anxiety and depression, and lower self-esteem. But Social media and wellbeing (p. 16) says the direction of the relationship remains to be established. The source therefore supports the link, but not the implication that prolonged use contributes to the increased risk. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Woods & Scott, 2016 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“connecting with mental health providers (M. L. Birnbaum et al., 2017)”

What the sources say

• ?Could not verify

  The Introduction reports that individuals with mental illness use social media and describes benefits such as relationships and support. The Discussion considers ways to reach users online and says more research is needed on making first clinical contact. Neither section reports that individuals expressed interest in using social media to connect with mental health providers; searches for that interest and for provider contact found no such passage. (LLM, conf=0.72)

  cites M. L. Birnbaum et al., 2017 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“use of a large number of social media platforms was associated with negative impact on mental health (Primack et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Conclusion reports that use of multiple social media platforms was strongly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in a nationally representative sample of young adults. The citing sentence describes an association, not a causal effect. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites Primack et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“while the Facebook component appears to have increased engagement in the program, while allowing participants who were unable to attend in-person sessions due to other health concerns or competing demands to remain connected with the program (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, McHugo, & Bartels, 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Discussion (page not provided) suggests that Facebook may have helped participants who missed in-person sessions remain connected. It does not identify health concerns or competing demands as reasons for missing sessions, and says Facebook use may not have indicated greater overall program engagement. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, McHugo, & Bartels, 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“These studies highlight a clear relationship between social media use and mental health that may not be present in general population studies (Orben & Przybylski, 2019)”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Results (p. 7) find a small negative association between social media use and adolescent well-being, rather than no association. The Discussion (p. 14) says the observed associations could be spurious, which supports the claim’s cautious ‘may not’ framing. The paper studies adolescents, however, and does not establish whether the relationship is absent in general-population studies. (LLM, conf=0.82)

  cites Orben & Przybylski, 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Among survey respondents using between 7 and 11 different social media platforms compared to respondents using only 2 or fewer platforms, there was a 3 times greater odds of having high levels of depressive symptoms”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results (Multivariable Analyses, Depression) compare respondents using 7–11 platforms with those using 0–2 and report about three times the odds of high depressive symptoms (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.9–5.0). This directly supports the paraphrase. (LLM, conf=0.95)

  cites Primack et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“The intervention holds tremendous promise as lack of support is one of the largest barriers toward exercise in patients with serious mental illness (Firth et al., 2016) and it is now possible to use social media to counter such.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Socio-ecological barriers section reports that lack of support was the most frequently experienced practical barrier, reported by 50% of respondents. The Discussion likewise calls it the most prominent socio-ecological barrier across the reviewed studies. The citing paper’s proposal to use social media is its own conclusion, not a finding attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Firth et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Another study was able to map the spread of social media posts about the Blue Whale Challenge, an alleged game promoting suicide, over Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr and other forums across 127 countries (Sumner et al., 2019)”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Methods (Data sources) list Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, public blogs, and forums. The Results say the study mapped the geographic spread of Blue Whale Challenge posts, with posts promoting or indicating participation in the game reaching 127 countries; the 127-country figure specifically refers to those “pro”-BWC posts. (LLM, conf=0.92)

  cites Sumner et al., 2019 source

In the paper

“accessing evidence-based mental health services delivered over social media specifically for coping with mental health symptoms or for promoting overall health and wellbeing (Naslund et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results section, “Interest in programs for mental health on social media” (page not available), reports that 85% of surveyed participants were interested in programs delivered through social media. Among those interested, 90% selected programs for coping with mental health symptoms and 72% selected programs promoting overall health and wellbeing. The Introduction describes the study as assessing interest in evidence-based mental health programs through these platforms. (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites Naslund et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“social media use appeared to predict low mood (Berry, Emsley, Lobban, & Bucci, 2018)”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion’s clinical implications section reports reductions in mood after social media use and says psychosis did not moderate that relationship. This supports the claim for people with psychosis, though the finding also applied to participants without psychosis. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites Berry, Emsley, Lobban, & Bucci, 2018 source

In the paper

“demonstrating that harmful content can travel quickly on social media (Saha et al., 2019)”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion reports that stigmatizing Twitter posts had higher social diffusion and warns that harmful or hateful content could spread more broadly if not curbed early. The Introduction also says social media can reach large populations quickly. Together, these support the citing sentence’s broad paraphrase. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Saha et al., 2019 source

In the paper

“Still, the cross sectional nature of many screen time and mental health studies makes it challenging to reach causal inferences (Orben & Przybylski, 2019).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion (p. 14) says that most large-scale datasets permit only cross-sectional correlations, leaving it unclear whether technology use causes lower well-being, the reverse is true, or a confounder explains both. This directly supports the difficulty of drawing causal inferences from such studies. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Orben & Przybylski, 2019 source

In the paper

“In a survey of social media users with mental illness, respondents reported that sharing personal experiences about living with mental illness and opportunities to learn about strategies for coping with mental illness from others were important reasons for using social media (Naslund et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results (‘Social media use’; page not provided) report that 61% of participants used social media to share personal experiences of living with mental illness and 52% used it to learn coping strategies. This directly supports the cited survey finding. (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites Naslund et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“while the Facebook component appears to have increased engagement in the program, while allowing participants who were unable to attend in-person sessions due to other health concerns or competing demands to remain connected with the program (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, McHugo, & Bartels, 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Discussion (page unavailable) reports substantial Facebook interaction and suggests that participants unable to attend in-person sessions may have remained connected through the group. It also cautions that Facebook use may not indicate overall program engagement; the Results report no significant attendance difference. The paper does not identify health concerns or competing demands as reasons for missed sessions. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, McHugo, & Bartels, 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“and a 3.2 times greater odds of having high levels of anxiety symptoms (Primack et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Abstract’s Results report an adjusted odds ratio of 3.2 for increased anxiety symptoms among respondents using 7–11 sites compared with those using 0–2. The detailed Results section reports a similar estimate of 3.3 in its fully adjusted model. (LLM, conf=0.92)

  cites Primack et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“A survey of social media users with mental illness found that most respondents were interested in accessing programs for mental health on social media targeting symptom management, health promotion, and support for communicating with health care providers and interacting with the health system (Naslund et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results section (‘Interest in programs for mental health on social media’) reports that 85% of respondents were interested in programs delivered through social media. Among those interested, majorities selected programs for coping with symptoms (90%), promoting health and wellbeing (72%), and learning to talk to doctors and use the health care system (60%). (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Naslund et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“Several studies have also demonstrated that when compared to a control group, Twitter users with a self-disclosed diagnosis of schizophrenia show unique online communication patterns (Michael L Birnbaum, Ernala, Rizvi, De Choudhury, & Kane, 2017), including more frequent discussion of tobacco use (Hswen et al., 2017), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018b”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Methods describe Twitter users who self-disclosed schizophrenia and a control group. The Results (Linguistic Characteristics; no page number available) compare the groups, and the reported results identify significant differences in their language use. (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites Michael L Birnbaum, Ernala, Rizvi, De Choudhury, & Kane, 2017 source

In the paper

“Several studies have also demonstrated that when compared to a control group, Twitter users with a self-disclosed diagnosis of schizophrenia show unique online communication patterns (Michael L Birnbaum, Ernala, Rizvi, De Choudhury, & Kane, 2017), including more frequent discussion of tobacco use (Hswen et al., 2017), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018b”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion reports that Twitter users who self-identified as having schizophrenia tweeted about depression and anxiety significantly more often than a randomly selected control group. This supports the attributed claim about more frequent discussion of those symptoms. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018b source

In the paper

“Social media use also appears to have a differential impact on mental health and emotional wellbeing between females and males (Booker, Kelly, & Sacker, 2018)”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion reports stark gender differences in the association between social media interaction and well-being: greater interaction at age 10 was associated with worsening socio-emotional difficulties among females, but no comparable cross-association was found among males. The citing sentence’s “appears” is consistent with the paper’s cautious treatment of causality. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Booker, Kelly, & Sacker, 2018 source

In the paper

“Given that most people access social media via mobile devices, digital phenotyping and social media are closely related (Torous et al., 2019).”

What the sources say

• ?Could not verify

  The ‘Unmet Needs for the Digital Mental Health Field’ section discusses smartphone sensing and digital phenotyping, but does not say how most people access social media. Searches for social-media use and mobile-device access found no passage addressing that claim; page numbers were unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.74)

  cites Torous et al., 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Research has found that individuals living with mental illness have expressed interest in accessing mental health services through social media platforms.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Discussion reports that 85% of surveyed participants who self-identified as having a mental illness expressed interest in programs delivered through social media. The paper describes the findings as exploratory, but they support the citing sentence’s statement that such individuals have expressed interest. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Naslund et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“As highlighted in this commentary, social media has become an important part of the lives of many individuals living with mental disorders.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bucci et al., 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson et al., 2015 source
• Supported

  The paper’s discussion of online peer-to-peer support says that individuals with serious mental illness are increasingly turning to social media to discuss their experiences, seek advice, and support one another. It also describes online forums as important venues for discussing mental health conditions. No page number is provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b source

In the paper

“Several studies have also demonstrated that when compared to a control group, Twitter users with a self-disclosed diagnosis of schizophrenia show unique online communication patterns (Michael L Birnbaum, Ernala, Rizvi, De Choudhury, & Kane, 2017), including more frequent discussion of tobacco use (Hswen et al., 2017), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018b”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results (‘Tweets About Suicide’; page not provided) report that Twitter users who self-identified as having schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets about suicide than control users. They also had greater odds of tweeting about suicide. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018a source

In the paper

“Several studies have also demonstrated that when compared to a control group, Twitter users with a self-disclosed diagnosis of schizophrenia show unique online communication patterns (Michael L Birnbaum, Ernala, Rizvi, De Choudhury, & Kane, 2017), including more frequent discussion of tobacco use (Hswen et al., 2017), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hswen, Naslund, Brownstein, & Hawkins, 2018b”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results (section 3.2, Tweets about tobacco) report that users who self-identified as having schizophrenia posted more tweets containing tobacco-related terms than control users (mean 3.74 versus 0.82). The Discussion (section 4) likewise says they appeared to tweet about tobacco more often. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Hswen et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“For instance, data is typically captured from social media platforms without the consent or awareness of users (Bidargaddi et al., 2017), which is especially crucial when the data relates to a socially stigmatizing health condition such as mental illness (Guntuku, Yaden, Kern, Ungar, & Eichstaedt, 2017).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  In “What are digital footprints?” (page unavailable), the paper identifies social-media activity as a source of passively generated data. “Ethical challenges” says commercial data were not purposely collected with prior consent for mental-health use, and “Data collection from different sources” says users often have little understanding or control of their digital footprints. It does not establish that social-media data are typically captured without users’ consent or awareness; lack of consent for mental-health use is narrower than lack of consent to collection. (LLM, conf=0.83)

  cites Bidargaddi et al., 2017 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“In recognizing that many individuals living with mental illness use social media to search for information about their mental health, it is possible that they may also want to ask their clinicians about what they find online to check if the information is reliable and trustworthy.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bucci et al., 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson et al., 2015 source
• Supported

  The paper states that individuals with serious mental illness increasingly turn to social media to seek advice and learn from others. Its ‘Online peer-to-peer support and mental illness’ section also discusses users who seek health information online. The citing sentence’s suggestion that they may ask clinicians about what they find is not attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b source

In the paper

“Many of these individuals use social media to share their lived experiences with mental illness, to seek support from others, and to search for information about treatment recommendations, accessing mental health services, and coping with symptoms (Bucci et al., 2019; Highton-Williamson et al., 2015; Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bucci et al., 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson et al., 2015 source
• Supported

  The paper states that individuals with serious mental illnesses are increasingly using social media to talk about their illness experiences. This directly supports the attributed claim about sharing lived experiences, though the paper specifically discusses serious mental illness. (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b source

In the paper

“found that over one third of participants expressed concerns about privacy when using social media (Naslund & Aschbrenner, 2019)”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results (Privacy Risks) report that 32 of 90 respondents (36%) expressed concerns about privacy risks when using social media for something related to their mental illness. That is over one third, as claimed. (LLM, conf=0.95)

  cites Naslund & Aschbrenner, 2019 source

In the paper

“Many of these individuals use social media to share their lived experiences with mental illness, to seek support from others, and to search for information about treatment recommendations, accessing mental health services, and coping with symptoms (Bucci et al., 2019; Highton-Williamson et al., 2015; Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bucci et al., 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson et al., 2015 source
• Supported

  The passage labeled Abstract > Conclusion says that individuals with serious mental illnesses are turning to social media to discuss their experiences, seek advice, and support one another. This directly supports the attributed point that people living with mental disorders use social media to seek support. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b source

In the paper

“Many of these individuals use social media to share their lived experiences with mental illness, to seek support from others, and to search for information about treatment recommendations, accessing mental health services, and coping with symptoms (Bucci et al., 2019; Highton-Williamson et al., 2015; Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bucci et al., 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson et al., 2015 source
• Supported

  The paper’s discussion of online peer-to-peer support says people with serious mental illness seek information about symptoms and medications and share coping strategies. In “Increase consumer activation” (page unavailable), it also describes discussions of medications, navigating the health care system, and finding a doctor, and reports that many sought formal care after searching or discussing concerns with peers online. Together, these support the paraphrase. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Naslund, Aschbrenner, et al., 2016b source

In the paper

“Most of the studies that we described were from the United States, as well as from other higher income settings such as Australia or the United Kingdom.”

In the paper

“Across the United States and globally, very few people living with mental illness have access to adequate mental health services (Patel et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Patel et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“The wide reach and near ubiquitous use of social media platforms may afford novel opportunities to address these shortfalls in existing mental health care, by enhancing the quality, availability, and reach of services.”

In the paper

“Initial studies exploring use of online self-help forums among individuals with serious mental illnesses have found that individuals with schizophrenia appeared to use these forums for self-disclosure, and sharing personal experiences, in addition to providing or requesting information, describing symptoms, or discussing medication (Haker, Lauber, & Rössler, 2005)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Haker, Lauber, & Rössler, 2005 source

In the paper

“thus, potentially reinforcing the relative advantage, as perceived by users, of using social media over in person conversations.”

In the paper

“as well as greater civic engagement, reflected as voting in local elections (Brusilovskiy et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Brusilovskiy et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Among individuals receiving publicly funded mental health services who use social media, nearly half (47%) reported using these platforms at least weekly to feel less alone (Brusilovskiy, Townley, Snethen, & Salzer, 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Brusilovskiy, Townley, Snethen, & Salzer, 2016 source

In the paper

“This was suggested in one study where participants with schizophrenia indicated that social media helped them to interact and socialize more easily (Miller et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Miller et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“of which 79% reported at least once-a-week usage of social media websites (Miller, Stewart, Schrimsher, Peeples, & Buckley, 2015).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Miller, Stewart, Schrimsher, Peeples, & Buckley, 2015 source

In the paper

“In another study of young adults with serious mental illness, most indicated that they used social media to help feel less isolated (Gowen et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Gowen et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“This on demand ease of communication may be especially important for facilitating social interaction among individuals with mental disorders experiencing difficulties interacting in face-to-face settings.”

In the paper

“Emerging research also shows that young people with moderate to severe depressive symptoms appear to prefer communicating on social media rather than in-person (Rideout & Fox, 2018)”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Rideout & Fox, 2018

In the paper

“more frequent use of social media among a sample of individuals with serious mental illness was associated with greater community participation, measured as participation in shopping, work, religious activities or visiting friends and family”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Brusilovskiy et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“individuals living with serious mental disorders typically have few social contacts in the offline world”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Badcock et al., 2015 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Giacco, Palumbo, Strappelli, Catapano, & Priebe, 2016 source

In the paper

“while 47% of inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia reported using social media”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Miller, Stewart, Schrimsher, Peeples, & Buckley, 2015 source

In the paper

“and also experience high rates of loneliness (Badcock et al., 2015; Giacco, Palumbo, Strappelli, Catapano, & Priebe, 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Badcock et al., 2015 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Giacco, Palumbo, Strappelli, Catapano, & Priebe, 2016 source

In the paper

“Similar results, with 68% of those with first episode psychosis using social media daily were reported in another study (Abdel-Baki, Lal, D.-Charron, Stip, & Kara, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Abdel-Baki, Lal, D.-Charron, Stip, & Kara, 2017 source

In the paper

“Like other online communication, the ability to connect with others anonymously may be an important feature of social media, especially for individuals living with highly stigmatizing health conditions (Berger, Wagner, & Baker, 2005), such as serious mental disorders (Highton-Williamson, Priebe, & Giacco, 2015).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Berger, Wagner, & Baker, 2005 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Highton-Williamson, Priebe, & Giacco, 2015 source

In the paper

“Because social media does not require the immediate responses necessary in face-to-face communication, it may overcome deficits with social interaction due to psychotic symptoms that typically adversely affect face-to-face conversations (Docherty et al., 1996).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Docherty et al., 1996 source

In the paper

“while users with bipolar disorder reported using these forums to ask for help from others about their illness (Vayreda & Antaki, 2009).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Vayreda & Antaki, 2009 source

In the paper

“social media may facilitate communication and interacting with others for these individuals (Torous & Keshavan, 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Torous & Keshavan, 2016 source

In the paper

“Online social interactions may not require the use of non-verbal cues, particularly in the initial stages of interaction (Kiesler, Siegel, & McGuire, 1984)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kiesler, Siegel, & McGuire, 1984 source

In the paper

“impaired social functioning is a common deficit in schizophrenia spectrum disorders”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Torous & Keshavan, 2016 source

In the paper

“Many individuals living with mental disorders have expressed interest in using social media platforms for seeking mental health information (Lal, Nguyen, & Theriault, 2018)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Lal, Nguyen, & Theriault, 2018 source

In the paper

“among respondents who reported more time accessing media such as social media platforms or smartphone devices, there was significantly greater depressive symptoms and increased risk of suicide when compared to adolescents who reported spending more time on non-screen activities”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, & Martin, 2018 source

In the paper

“Taken together, these studies offer insights about the potential for social media to facilitate access to an informal peer support network, though more research is necessary to examine how these online interactions may impact intentions to seek care, illness self-management, and clinically meaningful outcomes in offline contexts.”

In the paper

“and it is now possible to use social media to counter such.”

In the paper

“cyberbullying on social media consistently shows harmful impact on mental health in the form of increased depressive symptoms as well as worsening of anxiety symptoms, as evidenced in a review of 36 studies among children and young people (Hamm et al., 2015)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hamm et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“Other early efforts have demonstrated that use of digital environments with the interactive peer-to-peer features of social media can enhance social functioning and wellbeing in young people at high risk of psychosis (Alvarez-Jimenez et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Alvarez-Jimenez et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“With the widespread use of social media among individuals living with mental illness combined with the potential to facilitate social interaction and connect with supportive peers, as summarized above, it may be possible to leverage the popular features of social media to enhance existing mental health programs and services.”

In the paper

“Among digital programs that have incorporated peer-to-peer social networking consistent with popular features on social media platforms, a pilot study of the HORYZONS online psychosocial intervention demonstrated significant reductions in depression among patients with first episode psychosis (Alvarez-Jimenez et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Alvarez-Jimenez et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“research showing greater risk of hostility, including increased violence and discrimination, directed towards individuals living with mental illness in in-person contexts, especially targeted at those with severe mental illnesses (Goodman et al., 1999)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Goodman et al., 1999 source

In the paper

“one longitudinal study in Switzerland found that cyberbullying contributed to significantly greater depression over time (Machmutow, Perren, Sticca, & Alsaker, 2012)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Machmutow, Perren, Sticca, & Alsaker, 2012 source

In the paper

“Social media platforms could also be used to promote engagement and participation in in-person services delivered through community mental health settings.”

In the paper

“among respondents who reported more time accessing media such as social media platforms or smartphone devices, there was significantly greater depressive symptoms and increased risk of suicide when compared to adolescents who reported spending more time on non-screen activities”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, & Martin, 2018 source

In the paper

“This may partly be driven by the detrimental effects of screen time on mental health, including increased severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms, which have been well documented (Stiglic & Viner, 2019).”

In the paper

“For youth ages 10 to 17 who reported major depressive symptomatology, there was over 3 times greater odds of facing online harassment in the last year compared to youth who reported mild or no depressive symptoms (Ybarra, 2004)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Ybarra, 2004 source

In the paper

“Most studies report cross-sectional associations between cyberbullying and symptoms of depression or anxiety (Hamm et al., 2015)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hamm et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“In a study of young adults, it was found that negative comparisons with others on Facebook contributed to risk of rumination and subsequent increases in depression symptoms (Feinstein et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Feinstein et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“respondents ages 14 to 22 with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were more likely to have had negative experiences when using social media, and in particular, were more likely to report having faced hostile comments, or being “trolled”, from others when compared to respondents without depressive symptoms (31% vs. 14%) (Rideout & Fox, 2018)”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Rideout & Fox, 2018

In the paper

“These examples highlight the promise of incorporating the features of popular social media into existing programs, which may offer opportunities to safely promote engagement and program retention, while achieving improved clinical outcomes.”

In the paper

“More time spent using social media is also associated with greater symptoms of anxiety (Vannucci, Flannery, & Ohannessian, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Vannucci, Flannery, & Ohannessian, 2017 source

In the paper

“can result in serious consequences for daily life, including threats to employment and personal relationships”

In the paper

“Specifically, conversations on Twitter have been analyzed to characterize the onset of depression (De Choudhury, Gamon, Counts, & Horvitz, 2013) as well as detecting users’ mood and affective states (De Choudhury, Gamon, & Counts, 2012), while photos posted to Instagram can yield insights for predicting depression (Reece & Danforth, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites De Choudhury, Gamon, & Counts, 2012

In the paper

“Specifically, conversations on Twitter have been analyzed to characterize the onset of depression (De Choudhury, Gamon, Counts, & Horvitz, 2013) as well as detecting users’ mood and affective states (De Choudhury, Gamon, & Counts, 2012), while photos posted to Instagram can yield insights for predicting depression (Reece & Danforth, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Reece & Danforth, 2017

In the paper

“use of these platforms may contribute to risks that extend beyond worsening symptoms and that can affect different aspects of daily life”

In the paper

“We found many studies that highlighted risks associated with social media use for individuals living with mental illness; however, few studies of programs or interventions reported negative findings, suggesting the possibility that negative findings may go unpublished.”

In the paper

“Given that most people access social media via mobile devices, digital phenotyping and social media are closely related (Torous et al., 2019).”

In the paper

“To date, the emergence of machine learning, a powerful computational method involving statistical and mathematical algorithms (Shatte, Hutchinson, & Teague, 2019), has made it possible to study large quantities of data captured from popular social media platforms such as Twitter or Instagram to illuminate various features of mental health (Manikonda & De Choudhury, 2017; Reece et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Shatte, Hutchinson, & Teague, 2019 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Manikonda & De Choudhury, 2017 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Reece et al., 2017

In the paper

“can potentially expose individuals to hurtful content and hostile interactions”

In the paper

“For instance, data is typically captured from social media platforms without the consent or awareness of users (Bidargaddi et al., 2017), which is especially crucial when the data relates to a socially stigmatizing health condition such as mental illness (Guntuku, Yaden, Kern, Ungar, & Eichstaedt, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Guntuku, Yaden, Kern, Ungar, & Eichstaedt, 2017 source

In the paper

“reports have described risks of social media use pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, and unintended consequences of disclosing personal health information online (Torous & Keshavan, 2016)”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Torous & Keshavan, 2016 source

In the paper

“With research increasingly showing the valuable insights that social media data can yield about mental health states, greater attention to the ethical concerns with using individual data in this way is necessary (Chancellor, Birnbaum, Caine, Silenzio, & De Choudhury, 2019).”

In the paper

“it is clear from the studies summarized here that social media use can have negative effects on mental health symptoms”

In the paper

“Specifically, conversations on Twitter have been analyzed to characterize the onset of depression (De Choudhury, Gamon, Counts, & Horvitz, 2013) as well as detecting users’ mood and affective states (De Choudhury, Gamon, & Counts, 2012), while photos posted to Instagram can yield insights for predicting depression (Reece & Danforth, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites De Choudhury, Gamon, Counts, & Horvitz, 2013

In the paper

“A recent study found that exposure to traumatic online content on social media showing violence or hateful posts directed at racial minorities contributed to increases in psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, and depression among African American and Latinx adolescents in the United States (Tynes, Willis, Stewart, & Hamilton, 2019).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Tynes, Willis, Stewart, & Hamilton, 2019 source

In the paper

“Another study found that online disclosures about mental illness appeared beneficial as reflected by fewer posts about symptoms following self-disclosure (Ernala, Rizvi, Birnbaum, Kane, & De Choudhury, 2017).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Ernala, Rizvi, Birnbaum, Kane, & De Choudhury, 2017 source

In the paper

“Each of these examples offers early insights into the potential to leverage widely available online data for better understanding the onset and course of mental illness.”

In the paper

“there did not appear to be any differences between racial or ethnic groups in social media use for seeking mental health information (Rideout & Fox, 2018)”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Rideout & Fox, 2018