Social Media is Addictive and Influences Behavior: Should it Be Regulated as a Digital Therapeutic?

Perakslis, Eric D.; Quintana, Yuri

doi:10.2196/43174

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Currently, social media platforms have opaque processes for reviewing posts for potential harms [45]. As such, regulations are needed on disclosing policies and methods used to identify and remove harmful content [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring How Youth Use TikTok for Mental Health Information in British Columbia: Semistructured Interview Study With Youth

Turuba,

Cormier,

Zimmerman

et al. 2024

JMIR Infodemiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: TikTok experienced a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for people to interact with others, share experiences and thoughts related to the pandemic, and cope with ongoing mental health challenges. However, few studies have explored how youth use TikTok to learn about mental health.Objective: This study aims to understand how youth used TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic to learn about mental health and mental health support.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 youth (ages 12-24) living in British Columbia, Canada, who had accessed TikTok for mental health information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using an inductive, data-driven approach.Results: Three overarching themes were identified describing youths' experiences. The first theme centred on how TikTok gave youth easy access to mental health information and support, which was particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic to curb the effects of social isolation and the additional challenges of accessing mental health services. The second theme described how the platform provided youth with connection, as it gave youth a safe space to talk about mental health and allowed them to feel seen by others going through similar experiences. This helped normalize and de-stigmatize conversations about mental health and brought awareness to various mental health conditions. Finally, the last theme focused on how this information led to action, such as trying different coping strategies, discussing mental health with peers and family, accessing mental health services, and advocating for themselves during medical appointments. Across the three themes, youth expressed having to be mindful of bias and misinformation, highlighting the barriers to identifying and reporting misinformation and providing individualized advice on the platform.Conclusions: Findings suggest that TikTok can be a useful tool to increase mental health awareness, reduce stigma, and encourage youth to learn and address their mental health challenges while providing a source of peer connection and support. Simultaneously, TikTok can adversely impact mental health through repetitive exposure to mentally distressing content and misleading diagnosis and treatment information. Regulations against harmful content are needed to mitigate these risks and make

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring How Youth Use TikTok for Mental Health Information in British Columbia: Semistructured Interview Study With Youth

Turuba,

Cormier,

Zimmerman

et al. 2024

JMIR Infodemiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is difficult for any policy regulation to keep pace with the rapid changes occurring to language, content and technology around social media development and delivery. The current regulatory landscape could be described as fragmented, time delayed and inadequate, making it imperative to establish more effective and comprehensive regulations for social media sites to help prevent suicide in young people ( Perakslis & Quintana, 2023 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic reciprocal relationships between traditional media reports, social media postings, and youth suicide in Taiwan between 2012 and 2021

Chen,

et al. 2023

SSM - Population Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The problematic use of virtual social networks (VSN) is currently a public health concern due to the increased amount of time dedicated to internet use by young people [26,27]. Several lines of research pointed out its adverse effects on health and mental health in several domains [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ecological Inquiry on Young People’s Suicidal Ideation at University: Individual, Relational and Cultural Factors and Their Interactions

Nuñez Fadda,

Ciambelli Romero,

Gradilla Lizardo

et al. 2023

EJIHPE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To understand the factors related to suicidal ideation in university students, we examined individual and microsystemic variables with an ecological model organizing bidirectional influences between different dimensions. Suicidal ideation, psychological distress, multidimensional self-concept, loneliness, community social support, life satisfaction, family functioning, bullying victimization, and problematic use of virtual social networks were measured in a sample of 376 Mexican university students (67% women) from 18 to 34 years of age (M = 20.8). Data were collected in March 2020, before mandatory confinement for COVID started in Mexico. Discriminant analyses showed that psychological distress, loneliness, self-concept, life satisfaction, family functioning, internet violence/rejection, and informal social support predicted belonging to high or no suicidal ideation groups with 88% accuracy. Only psychological distress and family self-concept predicted suicidal ideation in multilinear regression analyses. There were differences by gender in multilinear regression, with family self-concept significant for women and physical self-concept, but not family self-concept for boys. Conclusions: Early Suicide prevention in universities should include periodic screening of psychological distress, loneliness, and virtual social media use to identify students that need further evaluation and intervention. University-based strategies of mental health promotion that strengthen family relationships and the sense of community, including gender-sensitive orientation, could enhance the effect of protective factors.

show abstract

Social Media is Addictive and Influences Behavior: Should it Be Regulated as a Digital Therapeutic?

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Exploring How Youth Use TikTok for Mental Health Information in British Columbia: Semistructured Interview Study With Youth

Exploring How Youth Use TikTok for Mental Health Information in British Columbia: Semistructured Interview Study With Youth

Dynamic reciprocal relationships between traditional media reports, social media postings, and youth suicide in Taiwan between 2012 and 2021

An Ecological Inquiry on Young People’s Suicidal Ideation at University: Individual, Relational and Cultural Factors and Their Interactions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About