ArticleScientific reports2020
Exploratory study on the role of emotion regulation in perceived valence, humour, and beneficial use of depressive internet memes in depression.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential effects of stress-related and stress-unrelated humor in remitted depression.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- "I have problems and I have fun": Funniness ratings of memes about psychological problems reflect how people relate them to themselves and correlate with rumination, reflection, self-liking, and self-competence.Current issues in personality psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- You Can Stand Under My Umbrella: Cognitive Load in Second-Language Reading.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Is a picture worth the same emotions everywhere? Validation of images from the Nencki affective picture system in Malaysia.Discover mental health · 2024Article
- The aesthetic experience of general beauty and ugly-cute memes: the role of emotion.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Involving Crowdworkers with Lived Experience in Content-Development for Push-Based Digital Mental Health Tools: Lessons Learned from Crowdsourcing Mental Health Messages.Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction · 2022Article
- Mental health memes: beneficial or aversive in relation to psychiatric symptoms?Humanities & social sciences communications · 2022Article
- Exposure to Depression Memes on Social Media Increases Depressive Mood and It Is Moderated by Self-Regulation: Evidence From Self-Report and Resting EEG Assessments.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Internet memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential coping mechanism for anxiety.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Cognitive and motivational factors driving sharing of internet memes.Memory & cognition · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study examined whether individuals experiencing significant depressive symptoms would differ from non-depressed controls in their interpretation of internet memes related to depression, whilst incorporating the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty. Forty-three individuals presenting clinically significant depressive symptoms (indicating ≥15 on the PHQ-9) and 56 non-depressed controls (indicating ≤4) rated the emotional valance, humour, relatability, shareability, and mood improving potential of 32 depressive and control (depicting general neutral or positive social commentaries) internet memes. Measures of depression and emotion dysregulation were also completed. The perception of humour, relatability, shareability and mood improving potential of depressive, but not control, memes were all greater amongst individuals with symptoms of depression relative to controls. However, these differences were mediated by deficits in the ability to deploy adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Despite their negative orientation, internet memes related to depression may be beneficial for individuals experiencing consistent symptoms. Specifically, by potentially facilitating: a humorous take on a negative experience and situation; the perception of peer-support through affiliation with others experiencing similar symptoms; and adaptive emotion regulation strategies amongst those with deficits in the ability to deploy such strategies.
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