Perceived Challenges and Online Harms from Social Media Use on a Severity Continuum: A Qualitative Psychological Stakeholder Perspective

Explosion of research on psychopathology and social media use after COVID-19: A scientometric study

BACKGROUND

Despite advances in research on psychopathology and social media use, no comprehensive review has examined published papers on this type of research and considered how it was affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

AIM

To explore the status of research on psychopathology and social media use before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.

METHODS

We used Bibliometrix (an R software package) to conduct a scientometric analysis of 4588 relevant studies drawn from the Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, and Scopus databases.

RESULTS

Such research output was scarce before COVID-19, but exploded after the pandemic with the publication of a number of high-impact articles. Key authors and institutions, located primarily in developed countries, maintained their core positions, largely uninfluenced by COVID-19; however, research production and collaboration in developing countries increased significantly after COVID-19. Through the analysis of keywords, we identified commonly used methods in this field, together with specific populations, psychopathological conditions, and clinical treatments. Researchers have devoted increasing attention to gender differences in psychopathological states and linked COVID-19 strongly to depression, with depression detection becoming a new trend. Developments in research on psychopathology and social media use are unbalanced and uncoordinated across countries/regions, and more in-depth clinical studies should be conducted in the future.

CONCLUSION

After COVID-19, there was an increased level of concern about mental health issues and a changing emphasis on social media use and the impact of public health emergencies.

Risiken und Chancen der Digitalisierung

Zusammenfassung. Durch die Digitalisierung ist innerhalb von kurzer Zeit eine zusätzliche Lebenswelt für Kinder und Jugendliche entstanden. Aus kinderpsychologischer Sicht stellt sich deshalb die Fragen, welche Risiken und Chancen die Digitalisierung sowohl für die Kindesentwicklung als auch für die psychotherapeutische Versorgung birgt. Risiken der Digitalisierung, sogenannte online harms („Online-Schäden“), zeigen sich durch Aggravation oder Veränderung bereits bekannter Störungsbilder (z. B. Essstörungen, selbstverletzendes oder suizidales Verhalten, Hypochondrie) oder die Entstehung neuer Störungsbilder (z. B. Online-Verhaltenssüchte wie die Computerspielstörung). Ausschlaggebend erscheint dabei nicht die Zeit, die mit digitalen Medien verbracht wird, sondern das Nutzungsmuster und die Funktionalität der Nutzung. Gleichzeitig bieten digitale Diagnostik, Monitoring- und Feedbacksysteme sowie digitale Interventionen neue Chancen zur Verbesserung der psychotheapeutischen Versorgung. Beispielsweise können Jugendliche durch App-basierte Interventionen im Alltag besser erreicht werden, und auch für unterversorgte Populationen wie beispielsweise Angehörige bieten digitale Angebote einen niederschwelligen Zugang. Die Digitalisierung stellt somit Wissenschaft und Psychotherapie vor große Herausforderungen und neue Aufgaben.

The Relationship of Social Media Addiction With Internet Use and Perceived Health: The Moderating Effects of Regular Exercise Intervention

The popularity of online social media in recent years has not only brought information and social convenience to people's lives, but has also given rise to many problems, among which social media addiction (SMA) has become a concern of many scholars and experts. Past research has shown that regular exercise (REx) can have many health benefits for the body, so numerous scholars and experts believe that this may be one possible strategy for reducing the health effects of online community addiction and Internet use (IU). Therefore, this study adopted a secondary data research approach to explore and predict the effect of age on social media use and personal health, and therefore included age as a control variable to investigate whether the intervention of REx, excluding the effect of age, moderates the effect of SMA on IU and on perceived health (PH). The participants of this study were adults aged 18 years or older in Taiwan, using the 2019 “Survey Research Data Archive,” Vol. 7, No. 5 data. A total of 1,933 questionnaires were retrieved, and after elimination of invalid responses, 1,163 data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, PLS-SEM. The results were as follows: (1) SMA positively affected IU, (2) SMA could negatively affect PH, (3) there was no statistical effect of IU on PH, (4) SMA did not indirectly affect PH through IU, (5) REx had a moderating effect on SMA and IU, and (6) REx did not regulate the effect of SMA on PH. First, from these results, it is clear that the negative health effects of SMA may not be simply due to prolonged IU. Secondly, while it is true that the moderating effect for people with low levels of SMA can reduce IU, for people with high levels of SMA, the moderating effect of REx becomes a catalyst for increased Internet usage behavior. Finally, we draw conclusions based on the results of the study and propose directions and recommendations for follow-up research.

#KidsAnxiety and the Digital World

This article discusses child onset anxiety disorders in conjunction with the risks and benefits of the rapidly changing digital world including screen time, social media, and potential treatment platforms. A section includes the impact of pandemic stressors including social distancing, quarantining, the association of the pandemic and youth mental health, and prolonged screen time.