Social Media Use Interventions Reduce Depression

Receiving therapy for problematic social media use can help people with depression improve their mental health, according to new research from University College London.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, discovered that social media interventions could benefit persons whose use has become problematic or interferes with their mental health.

Problematic use occurs when a person’s obsession with social media causes them to be distracted from their major tasks and ignore their responsibilities in other areas of their life.

Previous study has indicated that social media usage can become problematic when it interferes with a person’s everyday life and contributes to poor mental health, such as sadness, anxiety, stress, and loneliness.

Researchers have created and tested social media interventions to address these difficulties and improve users’ mental health. Abstaining from or limiting usage of social media, as well as therapy-based treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), are examples of such techniques.

Between 2004 and 2022, the researchers examined 23 studies with people from all over the world. They discovered that social media use interventions increased mental well-being in more than a third of the studies (39%).

Improvements were most noticeable in depression (poor mood), with 70% of studies reporting a significant improvement in depression after the intervention.

Therapy-based therapies were the most beneficial, improving mental well-being in 83% of research, compared to 20% of studies finding an improvement with limited social media usage and 25% with no social media use at all.

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 well-being 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 behaviors 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 usage 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.”

It is anticipated that 4.59 billion people worldwide will use at least one kind of social media by 2022, and the sites have radically altered how people communicate, create connections, and perceive one another.

While some studies claim that social media can benefit users by increasing social support, other data ties social media to sadness, anxiety, and other psychological issues, particularly among young people.

The researchers anticipate that their findings will help policymakers and physicians offer guidance and recommendations on how to best manage problematic social media usage.

However, further study is needed to determine who may benefit the most from social media interventions.

The study’s limitations

Current experimental research is of poor quality, with issues of selection bias making generalization problematic.

More experimental and longitudinal research with representative samples is required to determine who may benefit the most from social media use interventions.

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