Social media use, mental health, and suicide-related outcomes in Russian women: A cross-sectional comparison between two age groups

Abstract

Background: Women who belong to the age group “emerging adulthood” (18 to 29 years) are vulnerable to mental health issues and suicide-related outcomes. Objectives: This study investigated potential predictors of suicide-related outcomes in females emerging adulthood and compared them to older women. Design and Methods: Data of 2537 women from Russia (group “18 to 29 years”: n = 1123; group “> 29 years”: n = 1414) on lifetime suicide-related outcomes, (problematic) social media use, daily stress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and positive mental health were assessed via online cross-sectional surveys. Results: The younger group spent significantly more time on social media use than the older group. It had significantly higher levels of daily stress, problematic social media use, depression and anxiety symptoms, and suicide-related outcomes. The older group showed significantly higher levels of positive mental health. Only in the younger group, problematic social media use significantly mediated the relationship between daily stress and suicide-related outcomes in a moderated mediation analysis. Positive mental health significantly moderated the association between problematic social media use and suicide-related outcomes. Specifically, the higher the positive mental health level, the less close the link between both variables. Conclusion: The current results reveal that young women in Russia could be at enhanced risk for daily stress, problematic social media use, and low levels of mental health. The interaction between these variables could foster suicide-related outcomes. Public governmental communication in Russia should call attention to potential negative impact of intensive social media use.

The Impact of Social Media Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Youth: a Scoping Review

“…Besides, there are several platform-specific scales for social media addiction features such as salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse. The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, for instance, focuses specifically on addiction to Facebook [ 32 •], while the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale has emerged to examine a broader scope, including social media platforms beyond Facebook [ 33 •, 34 ]. Indeed, more researchers used general metrics to measure SMU across multiple platforms collectively such as the Social Media Disorder Scale which measures aspects of social media addiction features, such as preoccupation with social media, excessive time spent, withdrawal symptoms, and negative consequences [ 35 – 37 ].…”

“…In view of the limitation of self-reported measures, there has been a shift towards incorporating more objective measures in addition to subjective self-report scales. Increasing number of studies used time tracker via specific apps (installed on participants’ devices used for online activity) to reduce recall bias [ 33 •]. Other objective features, such as the number of followers, likes, comments, shares, bookmarks, and total interactions, which can be retrieved from various social media platforms [ 39 •] were also used to reflect social medica engagement.…”

“…A total of 9 cross-sectional studies examined the relationship between SMU and mental health [ 33 •, 34 , 38 •, 39 •, 56 •, 57 – 60 ]. A greater amount of time spent on social media was associated with an increased risk of depression, self-harm, and lower self-esteem.…”