SynthesisComprehensive psychiatry2020
Social media recruitment for mental health research: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Comprehensive psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 2 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
55 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How have contemporary research studies used social media to recruit to digital self-help intervention research for young people's mental health?: a mapping review.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Pooled it
- Social Media Use for Health Purposes: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- An evaluation of paid social media advertising and traditional advertising for addiction research recruitment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- Long COVID Optimal Health Programme to Enhance Mental and Physical Health: A Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Trial
- Detecting and Mitigating Fraudulent Participation: Lessons Learned from a Mixed Methods Study.Journal of mixed methods research · 2026Article
- From Nature to Strength: A Proof-of-Concept Study Integrating a Nature-Based Intervention with Virtually Supported Resistance Training in Young Men.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Internet Gaming Disorder and Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use: The Moderating Role of Student Status.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- A Comparison of Participant Demographics Across Co-Designed Recruitment Methods to Two Student Mental Health Trials: Cross-Sectional Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Development and Initial Validation of a Brief, Online Version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): Psychometric Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Global Mind Project data in the United States: A comparison with national statistics.International journal of population data science · 2026Article
- Online sexual health survey implementation: Practical lessons from a comparative, mixed-methods analysis of 30 countries.PloS one · 2026Article
- Quantitative evaluation of recruitment strategies in a cluster-randomized trial: segmented regression and cost analysis from the AOK-Family + study.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Article
- Effectiveness and Costs of Participant Recruitment Strategies to a Web-Based Population Cohort: Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Shift in sex and age of individuals at a clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis: relation to differences in recruitment methods and effect on sample characteristics.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Perceiving being single as inherently negative: when participant ratings of another person's life satisfaction rely solely on that person's relationship status.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Understanding Contagion of Suicidal Ideation: The Importance of Taking Into Account Social and Structural Determinants of Health.Mental health science · 2025Article
- Efficient Online Recruitment of Patients With Depressive Symptoms Using Social Media: Cross-Sectional Observational Study.JMIR mental health · 2025Observational
- Pilot Study of Factors Influencing Engagement with an mHealth Intervention Among Teens with Eating Disorder Symptoms.Journal of technology in behavioral science · 2025Article
- Challenging the Continued Usefulness of Social Media Recruitment for Surveys of Hidden Populations of People Who Use Opioids.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Assessment of Fraud Deterrence and Detection Procedures Used in a Web-Based Survey Study With Adult Black Cisgender Women: Description of Lessons Learned and Recommendations.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocial media holds exciting promise for advancing mental health research recruitment, however, the extent and efficacy to which these platforms are currently in use are underexplored.
objectiveA systematic review was conducted to characterize the current use and efficacy of social media in recruiting participants for mental health research.
methodA literature review was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO. Only non-duplicative manuscripts written in the English language and published between 1/1/2004-3/31/2019 were selected for further screening. Data extracted included study type and design, participant inclusion criteria, social media platform, advertising strategy, final recruited sample size, recruitment location, year, monetary incentives, comparison to other recruitment methods if performed, and final cost per participant.
resultsA total of 176 unique studies that used social media for mental health research recruitment were reviewed. The majority of studies were cross-sectional (62.5%) in design and recruited adults. Facebook was overwhelmingly the recruitment platform of choice (92.6%), with the use of paid advertisements being the predominant strategy (60.8%). Of the reviewed studies, substance abuse (43.8%) and mood disorders (15.3%) were the primary subjects of investigation. In 68.3% of studies, social media recruitment performed as well as or better than traditional recruitment methods in the number and cost of final enrolled participants. The majority of studies used Facebook for recruitment at a median cost per final recruited study participant of $19.47. In 55.6% of the studies, social media recruitment was the more cost-effective recruitment method when compared to traditional methods (e.g., referrals, mailing).
conclusionSocial media appears to be an effective and economical recruitment tool for mental health research. The platform raises methodological and privacy concerns not covered in current research regulations that warrant additional consideration.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.