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Journal of Child Psychology and... Mar 2020Adolescents are spending an increasing amount of their time online and connected to each other via digital technologies. Mobile device ownership and social media usage... (Review)
Review
Adolescents are spending an increasing amount of their time online and connected to each other via digital technologies. Mobile device ownership and social media usage have reached unprecedented levels, and concerns have been raised that this constant connectivity is harming adolescents' mental health. This review synthesized data from three sources: (a) narrative reviews and meta-analyses conducted between 2014 and 2019, (b) large-scale preregistered cohort studies and (c) intensive longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment studies, to summarize what is known about linkages between digital technology usage and adolescent mental health, with a specific focus on depression and anxiety. The review highlights that most research to date has been correlational, focused on adults versus adolescents, and has generated a mix of often conflicting small positive, negative and null associations. The most recent and rigorous large-scale preregistered studies report small associations between the amount of daily digital technology usage and adolescents' well-being that do not offer a way of distinguishing cause from effect and, as estimated, are unlikely to be of clinical or practical significance. Implications for improving future research and for supporting adolescents' mental health in the digital age are discussed.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Digital Technology; Humans; Internet Use; Mental Disorders; Screen Time; Social Media
PubMed: 31951670
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13190 -
Annual Review of Public Health Apr 2020Disease surveillance systems are a cornerstone of public health tracking and prevention. This review addresses the use, promise, perils, and ethics of social media- and... (Review)
Review
Disease surveillance systems are a cornerstone of public health tracking and prevention. This review addresses the use, promise, perils, and ethics of social media- and Internet-based data collection for public health surveillance. Our review highlights untapped opportunities for integrating digital surveillance in public health and current applications that could be improved through better integration, validation, and clarity on rules surrounding ethical considerations. Promising developments include hybrid systems that couple traditional surveillance data with data from search queries, social media posts, and crowdsourcing. In the future, it will be important to identify opportunities for public and private partnerships, train public health experts in data science, reduce biases related to digital data (gathered from Internet use, wearable devices, etc.), and address privacy. We are on the precipice of an unprecedented opportunity to track, predict, and prevent global disease burdens in the population using digital data.
Topics: Confidentiality; Data Collection; Humans; Internet; Public Health; Public Health Surveillance; Social Media; Wearable Electronic Devices
PubMed: 31905322
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094402 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its... (Review)
Review
TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on "LipSync-Videos" on the app. Despite its success in terms of user numbers, psychological studies aiming at an understanding of TikTok use are scarce. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview on the small empirical literature available thus far. In particular, insights from uses and gratification theory in the realm of TikTok are highlighted, and we also discuss aspects of the TikTok platform design. Given the many unexplored research questions related to TikTok use, it is high time to strengthen research efforts to better understand TikTok use and whether certain aspects of its use result in detrimental behavioral effects. In light of user characteristics of the TikTok platform, this research is highly relevant because TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore from a group of potentially vulnerable individuals.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Social Media
PubMed: 33816425
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673 -
Current Opinion in Psychology Jun 2022Research into the impact of social media use (SMU) on well-being (e.g., happiness) and ill-being (e.g., depression) has exploded over the past few years. From 2019 to... (Review)
Review
Research into the impact of social media use (SMU) on well-being (e.g., happiness) and ill-being (e.g., depression) has exploded over the past few years. From 2019 to August 2021, 27 reviews have been published: nine meta-analyses, nine systematic reviews, and nine narrative reviews, which together included hundreds of empirical studies. The aim of this umbrella review is to synthesize the results of these meta-analyses and reviews. Even though the meta-analyses are supposed to rely on the same evidence base, they yielded disagreeing associations with well- and ill-being, especially for time spent on SM, active SMU, and passive SMU. This umbrella review explains why their results disagree, summarizes the gaps in the literature, and ends with recommendations for future research.
Topics: Happiness; Humans; Social Media
PubMed: 35016087
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.12.006 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Jan 2021Although at present there is broad agreement among researchers, health professionals, and policy makers on the need to control and combat health misinformation, the...
BACKGROUND
Although at present there is broad agreement among researchers, health professionals, and policy makers on the need to control and combat health misinformation, the magnitude of this problem is still unknown. Consequently, it is fundamental to discover both the most prevalent health topics and the social media platforms from which these topics are initially framed and subsequently disseminated.
OBJECTIVE
This systematic review aimed to identify the main health misinformation topics and their prevalence on different social media platforms, focusing on methodological quality and the diverse solutions that are being implemented to address this public health concern.
METHODS
We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles published in English before March 2019, with a focus on the study of health misinformation in social media. We defined health misinformation as a health-related claim that is based on anecdotal evidence, false, or misleading owing to the lack of existing scientific knowledge. We included (1) articles that focused on health misinformation in social media, including those in which the authors discussed the consequences or purposes of health misinformation and (2) studies that described empirical findings regarding the measurement of health misinformation on these platforms.
RESULTS
A total of 69 studies were identified as eligible, and they covered a wide range of health topics and social media platforms. The topics were articulated around the following six principal categories: vaccines (32%), drugs or smoking (22%), noncommunicable diseases (19%), pandemics (10%), eating disorders (9%), and medical treatments (7%). Studies were mainly based on the following five methodological approaches: social network analysis (28%), evaluating content (26%), evaluating quality (24%), content/text analysis (16%), and sentiment analysis (6%). Health misinformation was most prevalent in studies related to smoking products and drugs such as opioids and marijuana. Posts with misinformation reached 87% in some studies. Health misinformation about vaccines was also very common (43%), with the human papilloma virus vaccine being the most affected. Health misinformation related to diets or pro-eating disorder arguments were moderate in comparison to the aforementioned topics (36%). Studies focused on diseases (ie, noncommunicable diseases and pandemics) also reported moderate misinformation rates (40%), especially in the case of cancer. Finally, the lowest levels of health misinformation were related to medical treatments (30%).
CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of health misinformation was the highest on Twitter and on issues related to smoking products and drugs. However, misinformation on major public health issues, such as vaccines and diseases, was also high. Our study offers a comprehensive characterization of the dominant health misinformation topics and a comprehensive description of their prevalence on different social media platforms, which can guide future studies and help in the development of evidence-based digital policy action plans.
Topics: Communication; Humans; Prevalence; Public Health; Social Media
PubMed: 33470931
DOI: 10.2196/17187 -
Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine Dec 2020Social Media usage has been shown to increase in situations of natural disaster and other crises. It is crucial for the scientific community to understand how social... (Review)
Review
Social Media usage has been shown to increase in situations of natural disaster and other crises. It is crucial for the scientific community to understand how social media works in order to enhance our capabilities and make a more resilient community. Through social media communication, the scientific community can collaborate around the globe in a faster way the most important findings of a disease, with a decreased knowledge transition time to other healthcare providers (HCPs). This is greatly important to coordinate research and knowledge during a time of uncertainty and protentional fake news. During the 2020 global pandemic, social media has become an ally but also a potential threat. High volumes of information compressed into a short period can result in overwhelmed HCPs trying to discern fact from noise. A major limitation of social media currently is the ability to quickly disseminate false information which can confuse and distract. Society relies on educated scientists and physicians to be leaders in delivering fact-based information to the public. For this reason, in times of crises it is important to be leaders in the conversation of social media to guide correct and helpful information and knowledge to the masses looking for answers.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Social Media
PubMed: 33388000
DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.195 -
BMC Psychology Jul 2023The use of social media significantly impacts mental health. It can enhance connection, increase self-esteem, and improve a sense of belonging. But it can also lead to...
The use of social media significantly impacts mental health. It can enhance connection, increase self-esteem, and improve a sense of belonging. But it can also lead to tremendous stress, pressure to compare oneself to others, and increased sadness and isolation. Mindful use is essential to social media consumption.
Topics: Humans; Mental Health; Social Media
PubMed: 37415227
DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01243-x -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Apr 2021As the world continues to advance technologically, social media (SM) is becoming an essential part of billions of people's lives worldwide and is affecting almost every... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
As the world continues to advance technologically, social media (SM) is becoming an essential part of billions of people's lives worldwide and is affecting almost every industry imaginable. As the world is becoming more digitally oriented, the health care industry is increasingly visualizing SM as an important channel for health care promotion, employment, recruiting new patients, marketing for health care providers (HCPs), building a better brand name, etc. HCPs are bound to ethical principles toward their colleagues, patients, and the public in the digital world as much as in the real world.
OBJECTIVE
This review aims to shed light on SM use worldwide and to discuss how it has been used as an essential tool in the health care industry from the perspective of HCPs.
METHODS
A literature review was conducted between March and April 2020 using MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science for all English-language medical studies that were published since 2007 and discussed SM use in any form for health care. Studies that were not in English, whose full text was not accessible, or that investigated patients' perspectives were excluded from this part, as were reviews pertaining to ethical and legal considerations in SM use.
RESULTS
The initial search yielded 83 studies. More studies were included from article references, and a total of 158 studies were reviewed. SM uses were best categorized as health promotion, career development or practice promotion, recruitment, professional networking or destressing, medical education, telemedicine, scientific research, influencing health behavior, and public health care issues.
CONCLUSIONS
Multidimensional health care, including the pairing of health care with SM and other forms of communication, has been shown to be very successful. Striking the right balance between digital and traditional health care is important.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Delivery of Health Care; Health Personnel; Health Promotion; Humans; Middle Aged; Social Media; Young Adult
PubMed: 33664014
DOI: 10.2196/23205 -
Social Science & Medicine (1982) Nov 2019Contemporary commentators describe the current period as "an era of fake news" in which misinformation, generated intentionally or unintentionally, spreads rapidly....
Contemporary commentators describe the current period as "an era of fake news" in which misinformation, generated intentionally or unintentionally, spreads rapidly. Although affecting all areas of life, it poses particular problems in the health arena, where it can delay or prevent effective care, in some cases threatening the lives of individuals. While examples of the rapid spread of misinformation date back to the earliest days of scientific medicine, the internet, by allowing instantaneous communication and powerful amplification has brought about a quantum change. In democracies where ideas compete in the marketplace for attention, accurate scientific information, which may be difficult to comprehend and even dull, is easily crowded out by sensationalized news. In order to uncover the current evidence and better understand the mechanism of misinformation spread, we report a systematic review of the nature and potential drivers of health-related misinformation. We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus and Google databases to identify relevant methodological and empirical articles published between 2012 and 2018. A total of 57 articles were included for full-text analysis. Overall, we observe an increasing trend in published articles on health-related misinformation and the role of social media in its propagation. The most extensively studied topics involving misinformation relate to vaccination, Ebola and Zika Virus, although others, such as nutrition, cancer, fluoridation of water and smoking also featured. Studies adopted theoretical frameworks from psychology and network science, while co-citation analysis revealed potential for greater collaboration across fields. Most studies employed content analysis, social network analysis or experiments, drawing on disparate disciplinary paradigms. Future research should examine susceptibility of different sociodemographic groups to misinformation and understand the role of belief systems on the intention to spread misinformation. Further interdisciplinary research is also warranted to identify effective and tailored interventions to counter the spread of health-related misinformation online.
Topics: Communication; Deception; Health Literacy; Humans; Social Media
PubMed: 31561111
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112552 -
JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery Sep 2019Social media platforms and photograph (photo) editing applications are increasingly popular sources of inspiration for individuals interested in cosmetic surgery....
IMPORTANCE
Social media platforms and photograph (photo) editing applications are increasingly popular sources of inspiration for individuals interested in cosmetic surgery. However, the specific associations between social media and photo editing application use and perceptions of cosmetic surgery remain unknown.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether self-esteem and the use of social media and photo editing applications are associated with cosmetic surgery attitudes.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A population-based survey study was conducted from July 1 to September 19, 2018. The web-based survey was administered through online platforms to 252 participants.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Each participant's self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (scores range from 0-30; higher scores indicate higher self-esteem) and the Contingencies of Self-worth Scale (scores range from 1-7; higher scores indicate higher self-worth). Cosmetic surgery attitude was measured using the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (scores range from 1-7; higher scores indicate higher acceptance of cosmetic surgery). Unpaired, 2-tailed t tests were used to assess the significance of self-esteem and cosmetic surgery attitude score differences among users of various social media and photo editing applications. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the association between social media investment and cosmetic surgery attitudes.
RESULTS
Of the 252 participants, 184 (73.0%) were women, 134 (53.2%) reported themselves to be white, and the mean age was 24.7 (range, 18-55) years. Scores on the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale from users and nonusers across applications were compared, with lower self-esteem scores noted in participants who reported using YouTube (difference in scores, -1.56; 95% CI, -3.01 to -0.10), WhatsApp (difference in scores, -1.47; 95% CI, -2.78 to -0.17), VSCO (difference in scores, -3.20; 95% CI, -4.98 to -1.42), and Photoshop (difference in scores, -2.92; 95% CI, -5.65 to -0.19). Comparison of self-esteem scores for participants who reported using other social media and photo editing applications yielded no significant differences. Social media investment had a positive association with consideration of cosmetic surgery (R, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.04-0.66). A higher overall score on the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale was noted in users of Tinder (difference in means, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.34-1.23), Snapchat (difference in means, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.71), and/or Snapchat photo filters (difference in means, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.16-0.72). Increased consideration of cosmetic surgery but not overall acceptance of surgery was noted in users of VSCO (difference in means, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.32-1.35) and Instagram photo filters (difference in means, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.01-0.76) compared with nonusers.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
This study's findings suggest that the use of certain social media and photo editing applications may be associated with increased acceptance of cosmetic surgery. These findings can help guide future patient-physician discussions regarding cosmetic surgery perceptions, which vary by social media or photo editing application use.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
NA.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Photography; Self Concept; Social Media; Software; Surgery, Plastic; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 31246236
DOI: 10.1001/jamafacial.2019.0328