Summary: More than the amount of time young people spend on social media, their emotional health is affected by how they use it. Experts found that reducing harmful evaluations and fostering significant contacts online can enhance cognitive well-being, reducing grief, anxiety, and depression. Although completely cutting off cultural connections is significantly lessen anxiety and depression, it can also make people lonely.
A healthy approach, teaching intentional wedding, provided benefits like lower sadness and improved social assistance. The results suggest that brighter social media habits, rather than abstinence, may be crucial to psychological health. Researchers believe that educational programs should focus on teaching young people to connect with social media through interaction more than assessment.
Important Information:
- Use of intentional social media decreased isolation and social similarities.
- Total abstinence reduced depression and anxiety but did n’t increase loneliness.
- Tutorials on conscious social press use inspired better, more meaningful connections.
Origin: University of British Columbia
Young people’s mental health may depend on , how , they use social media, rather than how little time they spend using it, according to a new study by University of B. C. experts.
The research, led by psychology professor Dr. Amori Mikami ( she/her ) and published this week in the , Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, examined the effects of quitting social media versus using it more intentionally.
The results showed that people who carefully managed their online connections, as well as those who abstained from social media completely, saw mental wellness benefits—particularly in reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression and loneliness.
Concerns about social media’s impact on mental health have grown as a result, with it almost universal among young people, particularly those between the ages 17 and 29.
Our group wanted to know if this was really the whole picture or if how folks used social media to interact with it might have a positive impact, according to Dr. Mikami.
Instead of treating social media as an all-or-nothing decision, the investigation explored whether helping younger people learn” smarter” engagement approaches may increase their well-being.
393 American young people who had mental health symptoms and were concerned about social media’s impact on their mental health were divided into three groups during the six-week research:
- a control group that continued with their daily exercises
- a party for contraception was asked to completely stop using social advertising.
- a “tutorial” team that was coached in intentional use
The training guided members on fostering important website links, limiting interactions that encouraged self-comparison, and carefully selecting who they followed.
Both the abstinence and lecture groups reported fewer social comparisons, which is a common cause of stress and lower self-esteem. The tutorial group reported improvements in loneliness and fear of missing out ( FOMO), but they did n’t drastically cut back on social media as much as those who tried to abstain entirely.
In contrast, those who completely avoided social media reported no improvement in grief despite being more effective at reducing depression and anxiety signs.
” Removing social media may lessen the pressure that young people experience from presenting a carefully selected image of themselves online. But, stopping societal press may also deprive young people of social relationships with friends and family, leading to thoughts of isolation”, said Dr. Mikami.
With the tutorial group, Dr. Mikami and graduate students Adri Khalis and Vasileia Karasavva adhered to a philosophy that placed the value of quality over quantity in social media interactions. Participants in the tutorial created a healthier online environment by muting or unfollowing accounts that gave rise to envy or negative self-assurements and placing close friendships prior to.
They were encouraged to actively engage with friends by commenting or sending direct messages, a practice that helps users feel more socially supported while also promoting passive scrolling.
For Dr. Mikami, this balanced approach may be a realistic alternative to complete abstinence, which may not be feasible for many young adults.
” Social media is here to stay”, she said. ” And for many people, quitting is n’t a realistic option. However, young adults can use social media to promote their mental health rather than detract from it with the right guidance.
The findings, in Dr. Mikami’s opinion, can provide important lessons for schools and mental health programs. She envisions holding more workshops and educational seminars where young adults are taught to use social media as a means of enhancing relationships rather than as a means of stress and comparison. This approach, she suggests, could break the cycle of quitting social media only to return later, sometimes with worse effects.
The research emphasizes that young people’s well-being is closely tied to how they engage. Dr. Mikami’s team demonstrated that positive mental health outcomes can be achieved without sacrificing the social connectivity that platforms offer by offering alternative ways to interact online.
As she put it:” For many young people, it’s not about logging off. It’s about leaning in—in the right way”.
About this news about research into stress and neurodevelopment
Author: Erik Rolfsen
Source: University of British Columbia
Contact: Erik Rolfsen – University of British Columbia
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
” Logging In or Leaning Out” Social Media Strategies for Enhancing Well-Being” by Amori Mikami et al. General Journal of Experimental Psychology
Abstract
Leaning In or Logging Out? Social Media Strategies for Enhancing Well-Being
Social media use is , endemic , among emerging adults, raising concerns that this trend may harm users. We tested whether reducing the quantity of social media use, relative to improving the way users engage with social media, benefits psychological , well-being.
Participants were 393 social media users ( ages 17–29 ) in Canada, with elevated , psychopathology , symptoms, who perceived social media to negatively impact their life somewhat.
They were randomized to either ( a ) assistance to engage with social media in a way to enhance connectedness ( tutorial ), ( b ) encouragement to abstain from social media ( abstinence ), or ( c ) no instructions to change behavior ( control ).
Participants ‘ social media behaviors were self-reported and tracked using , phone , screen time apps while well-being was self-reported, over four timepoints ( 6 weeks in total ).
Results suggested that the tutorial and abstinence groups, relative to control, reduced their quantity of social media use and the amount of social , comparisons , they made on social media, with abstinence being the most effective.
Tutorial was the only condition to reduce participants ‘ fear of missing out and , loneliness, and abstinence was the only condition to reduce internalizing symptoms, relative to control.
No condition differences emerged in eating , pathology , or the tendency to make social comparisons in an upward direction. Changes in social media behaviors mediated the effects of abstinence ( but not of tutorial ) on well-being outcomes.
Participant engagement and perceptions of helpfulness were acceptable, but the abstinence group possibly perceived the , content , as less helpful. In , conclusion, using social media differently and abstaining from social media may each benefit well-being.
