ArticleJMIR mental health2020
Instagram as a Window to Societal Perspective on Mental Health, Gender, and Race: Observational Pilot Study.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Effects of Internet-Based Storytelling Programs (Amazing Adventure Against Stigma) in Reducing Mental Illness Stigma With Mediation by Interactivity and Stigma Content: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Using Instagram to Promote Youth Mental Health: Feasibility and Acceptability of a Brief Social Contact-Based Video Intervention to Reduce Depression Stigma.JAACAP open · 2025Article
- The Use of Instagram Among Dental Patients in Saudi Arabia.Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGender and race are known to impact attitudes toward mental health topics and help-seeking behavior. Men and minorities are more likely to cite stigma as a reason for not seeking help for mental health concerns, which is of particular relevance given the high rate of suicide in men and challenges of historic proportion currently facing minority communities. Instagram provides a platform to discuss mental health, though a lack of male and minority representation may further alienate these populations.
objectiveWe aimed to investigate whether men and nonwhite individuals are underrepresented in Instagram photos tagged with #mentalhealth (compared to photos tagged with #health) to better understand how gender and race-based representations are manifested on this popular social media platform and discuss the implications.
methodsThree investigators of different genders and racial backgrounds met on nine different days via teleconference to analyze a total of 215 publicly available Instagram photos tagged with #mentalhealth and 215 with #health. These photos were generated using Instagram's search function, and search results were sorted by most recently published at the time of data collection. For each photo, the three investigators recorded their observations about the gender (male versus female) and race (white versus nonwhite versus racially unclassifiable) of subjects featured in the photo, which they did not discuss with other investigators. Chi-squared analysis was performed on each investigator's data set to compare the frequency of male versus female and white versus nonwhite subjects identified in each hashtag category. Kappa interrater agreement was calculated for each investigator pair, category (gender or race), and hashtag.
resultsAll three investigators observed significantly more female as compared to male subjects in photos tagged with #mentalhealth (X
conclusionsWomen are featured more frequently than men in Instagram photos tagged with #mentalhealth. The topic of #health, meanwhile, is not gendered this way. Low visibility of mental health among men may both represent and exacerbate existing stigma and barriers to care. White subjects are featured significantly more frequently than nonwhite subjects in photos tagged with both #mentalhealth and #health. Directed interventions using the Instagram platform may be indicated to increase the visibility of underrepresented groups and break the cycle of stigma.
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