SynthesisPloS one2016
A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Social media use and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical psychology review · 2021Pooled it
- Behavioural interventions delivered through interactive social media for health behaviour change, health outcomes, and health equity in the adult population.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The Use of Social Networking Sites in Mental Health Interventions for Young People: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Experiences of personal recovery in the context of unmoderated online communities centered around self-harming and suicidal behavior: a secondary qualitative analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- An Examination of Digital Media and Device-Related Problems in Pediatric Hospital Visits for Psychiatric Crises.JAACAP open · 2026Article
- Social exclusion alters attention and autonomic regulation in adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Adolescent social media use and its association with mental health: a cross-sectional study in Bradford, England.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Time Out: A Scoping Review of Non-Duration Based Social Media Use Measures and Adolescent Mental Health.Journal of adolescence · 2026Article
- Enacted Restoration of Selfhood: A Kierkegaardian Perspective on Self-harm Among People with Mental Illness.Culture, medicine and psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Association Between Negative Online Behaviours and Problematic Social Media Use in Adolescents: Comparing Psychiatric Inpatients and Community Participants.Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2025Article
- Co-Developing Content Updates for the Card Sort Task for Self-Harm-Digital (CaTS-D) With People With Lived Self-Harm Experiences: Pilot Study and Thematic Analysis.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- The romanticisation of mental health problems in adolescents and its implications: a narrative review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- A golden age of behavioural social psychology? Towards a social psychology of power and intergroup relations in the digital age.The British journal of social psychology · 2025Article
- Impact of social media on triggering nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescents: a comparative ambulatory assessment study.Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation · 2025Article
- The STAR collaborative nonsuicidal self-injury study: methods and sample description of the face-to-face sample.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Attentional Biases and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Urges in Adolescents.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Observational
- A nationwide study on time spent on social media and self-harm among adolescents.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo conduct a systematic review of studies of social media platforms used by young people to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. STUDY
design11 electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2012 for primary research; in June 2014 an updated search of Medline was conducted. Grey literature sources were also searched. Search results were screened by two reviewers. Data were extracted by one reviewer and verified by another. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
resultsDue to heterogeneity in study objectives and outcomes, results were not pooled; a narrative analysis is presented. 26 studies were included. Most were conducted in Canada or the UK (30.8% each), used qualitative designs (42.3%), and evaluated discussion forums (73.1%). Participants were most often aged 19-21 years (69.2%), female (mean 68.6%), and 19.2% had a documented history of depression. The social media platforms evaluated were commonly supportive and provided a sense of community among users. Support included suggestions for formal treatment, advice on stopping self-harming behavior, and encouragement. Harms included normalizing and accepting self-harming behavior; discussion of motivation or triggers, concealment, suicidal ideation or plans; and live depictions of self-harm acts.
conclusionsAlthough this evidence is limited by its descriptive nature, studies identify beneficial and detrimental effects for young people using social media to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. The connections users make online may be valuable to explore for therapeutic benefit. Prospective, longitudinal investigations are needed to identify short- and long-term potential harms associated with use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.