Social media use interventions alleviate symptoms of depression
Peer reviewed | Meta-analysis | People
2023-08-11
(Press-News.org) Receiving therapy for problematic social media use can be effective in improving the mental wellbeing of people with depression, finds a new study by UCL researchers.
The research, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, found that social media use interventions could help adults for whom social media use has become problematic or interferes with their mental health.
Problematic use is when a person’s pre-occupation with social media results in a distraction from their primary tasks and the neglect of responsibilities in other aspects of their life.
Previous research* has suggested that social media use can become problematic when it starts to interfere with a person’s daily life and leads to poor mental wellbeing, including depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness.
To address these issues, and improve users’ mental health, social media use interventions have been developed and evaluated by researchers. Such techniques include abstaining from or limiting use of social media, alongside therapy-based techniques such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
The researchers analysed 23 studies which featured participants from across the globe, between 2004 and 2022. They found that in more than a third of studies (39%), social media use interventions improved mental wellbeing.
Improvements were particularly notable in depression (low mood), as 70% of studies saw a significant improvement in depression following the intervention.
Therapy-based interventions were most effective – improving mental wellbeing in 83% of studies, compared to a 20% of studies finding an improvement where social media use was limited and 25% where social media was given up entirely.
Lead author, Dr Ruth Plackett (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health), said: “Mental health issues are on the rise, as is the number of people who use social media.
“Health and care professionals should be aware that reducing time spent on social media is unlikely to benefit mental wellbeing on its own.
“Instead, taking a more therapy-based approach and reflecting on how and why we are interacting with social media and managing those behaviours could help improve mental health.”
Study author and GP Dr Patricia Schartau (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health), added: “As primary care physicians, we should proactively explore social media use and its effects on mental health in patients who present with anxiety and/or low mood in order to give those patients the opportunity to benefit from treatment including some of the more effective interventions outlined in our review.”
In 2022 it was estimated that 4.59 billion people globally used at least one form of social media and the sites have dramatically changed how people communicate, form relationships and perceive each other.
While some studies report that social media can be beneficial to users and provide them with increased social support, other evidence links social media with depression, anxiety and other psychological problems – particularly in young people.
The researchers hope that their findings will help to develop guidance and recommendations for policymakers and clinicians on how best to manage problematic social media use.
However, further research is needed in order to investigate who may benefit most from social media use interventions.
Dr Plackett holds a Fellowship (award number MH013) funded by the the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Schools Mental Health Programme. This research is also independent research supported by the NIHR ARC North Thames. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Study limitations
Current experimental research is of low quality, with issues of selection bias making it difficult to generalise the findings.
Further experimental and longitudinal research is needed with representative samples to investigate who may benefit most from social media use interventions.
*https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248406
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2023-08-11
Scientists have identified two types of mole which they believe have been living undiscovered in the mountains of eastern Turkey for as many as 3 million years.
The new moles – named Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis – belong to a familiar group of subterranean, invertebrate-eating mammals found across Europe and Western Asia.
While only one species, Talpa europaea, is found in Britain, further east there are a number of different moles, many of which have very small geographical ranges.
The researchers – using cutting edge DNA technology – ...
2023-08-11
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Using a novel method to detect microbial activity in biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, after they are wetted, a Penn State-led research team in a new study uncovered clues that will lead to a better understanding of the role microbes play in forming a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world. The tiny organisms — and the microbiomes they create — are threatened by climate change.
The researchers published their findings in Frontiers of Microbiology.
“Biocrusts ...
2023-08-11
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Systems in the Universe trend toward disorder, with only applied energy keeping the chaos at bay. The concept is called entropy, and examples can be found everywhere: ice melting, campfire burning, water boiling. Zentropy theory, however, adds another level to the mix.
A team led by Zi-Kui Liu, the Dorothy Pate Enright Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State, developed the theory. The “Z” in zentropy stands for the German word Zustandssumm, meaning ‘‘sum over states” of entropy. Alternatively, Liu said, zentropy may be considered as a play on the term “zen” ...
2023-08-11
Think you know everything about a material? Try giving it a twist—literally. That’s the main idea of an emerging field in condensed matter physics called “twistronics,” which has researchers drastically changing the properties of 2D materials, like graphene, with subtle changes—as small as going from a 1.1° to 1.2°—in the angle between stacked layers. Twisted layers of graphene, for example, have been shown to behave in ways that single sheets have not, including acting like magnets, like electrical superconductors, or like a superconductor’s opposite, insulators, all due to small changes in the twist angle between sheets.
In theory, you ...
2023-08-11
MADISON – Although many Americans dutifully deposit their plastic trash into the appropriate bins each week, many of those materials, including flexible films, multilayer materials and a lot of colored plastics, are not recyclable using conventional mechanical recycling methods. In the end, only about 9 percent of plastic in the United States is ever reused, often in low-value products. With a new technique, however, University of Wisconsin–Madison chemical engineers are turning low-value waste plastic into high-value ...
2023-08-11
On July 24, 2023, Israel's Parliament sanctioned a substantial amendment to the Basic Law, prompting apprehensions regarding power equilibrium and its potential influence on public well-being. In response, a coalition of prominent Israeli and global public health experts has united to dissect the profound ramifications of this revision in an article titled “Israel's Judicial Overhaul: A Threat to the Health in All Policies Approach” featured in The Lancet.
The amendment, restricts ...
2023-08-11
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 10, 2023 — Period products come in a variety of styles — liners, pads, tampons, cups and underwear — to help people feel comfortable during a menstrual bleed. But their labels don’t usually list the ingredients, so consumers don’t know what’s in their product of choice. Now, researchers have analyzed over 100 period products for fluorinated compounds, an indicator of potentially harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Their results show that while PFAS are absent from many products, ...
2023-08-11
Yoga and breathing control practices, in combination with aerobic training, are particularly key exercises for asthmatic people seeking to improve their lung function, a new peer-reviewed study suggests.
The research which is published today in the journal Annals of Medicine highlights the importance of integrating appropriate exercise training into asthma management plans.
The findings demonstrate just how effective specific types of exercise training can be to enhance lung function for those with adults, explains ...
2023-08-11
New York, NY [August 10, 2023]—The best heart rate for burning fat differs for each individual and often does not align with the “fat burning zone” on commercial exercise machines, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers report.
Instead, the researchers said, clinical exercise testing—a diagnostic procedure to measure a person’s physiological response to exercise—may be a more useful tool to help individuals achieve intended fat loss goals. The study, which used a machine learning-based modeling approach, was published online today in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease.
“People with a goal of weight or fat loss may ...
2023-08-11
A Monash University-led study has proposed a solution for the urgent need to capture real-time data on the impact of climate change-related events on human health, healthcare workforces, and healthcare systems at the point of care.
As the global community faces growing climate challenges, the study calls for action, collaboration, and innovation to safeguard human health and wellbeing in the face of environmental crises.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, it highlighted key climate ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Social media use interventions alleviate symptoms of depression
Peer reviewed | Meta-analysis | People
