ArticleJournal of technology in behavioral science2020
Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice.
Article in Journal of technology in behavioral science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 210 papers, 12 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
210 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Parasocial Engagement With Social Media Influencers and Mental Health Outcomes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- The Impact of Social Media Videos on Quantitative Health Outcomes: Systematic Review.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Pooled it
- Telepsychology and digital mental health communication: an exploratory mixed-methods study of tikTok content.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Pooled it
- The use of social media in social care: a systematic review of the argument-based ethics literature.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2025Pooled it
- Chatbot-Delivered Interventions for Improving Mental Health Among Young People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Worldviews on evidence-based nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Next-Generation Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression: Integrating Digital Tools, Teletherapy, and Personalization for Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Outcomes of Best-Practice Guided Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Emerging Symptoms: Part II. A Systematic Review of User Experience Outcomes.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Social media for palliative and end-of-life care research: a systematic review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Online and Remote Interventions for Mental Health in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mental health · 2024Pooled it
- The Impact of Social Media Use Interventions on Mental Well-Being: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Lived Experience Synthesis of Self-disclosure as an Active Ingredient in Interventions for Adolescents and Young Adults with Anxiety and Depression.Administration and policy in mental health · 2023Pooled it
- The Empowering Role of Web-Based Help Seeking on Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Development and evaluation of a digital single-session reappraisal intervention to shift negative self-focused social media interpretations.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Trial
- Social media utilization to understand the journey and unmet needs of patients with Parkinson's disease in the Philippines.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Article
- Social Media Use and Health: What We Have Known So Far, and What We Need to Investigate in the Future.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Mental health problem recognition and stigma among emerging adults: Findings from the Voices for Well-Being Study (Project VOW).Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- A Preliminary Investigation of Going Online for Suicide-Related Reasons: The Impact on Suicide Risk and Prevention.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Naturalistic Online Language as a Marker of Depression in Midlife and Older Adults: Computational Text Analysis of Bluesky and Reddit Posts.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Momentary Mood and Affiliation Following Social Interactions in the Digital Age: Longitudinal Study Investigating Associations With Anxiety and Depression.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Social media use duration and epigenetic aging among U.S. adults in the MIDUS refresher study.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
150 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Social media platforms are popular venues for sharing personal experiences, seeking information, and offering peer-to-peer support among individuals living with mental illness. With significant shortfalls in the availability, quality, and reach of evidence-based mental health services across the United States and globally, social media platforms may afford new opportunities to bridge this gap. However, caution is warranted, as numerous studies highlight risks of social media use for mental health. In this commentary, we consider the role of social media as a potentially viable intervention platform for offering support to persons with mental disorders, promoting engagement and retention in care, and enhancing existing mental health services. Specifically, we summarize current research on the use of social media among mental health service users, and early efforts using social media for the delivery of evidence-based programs. We also review the risks, potential harms, and necessary safety precautions with using social media for mental health. To conclude, we explore opportunities using data science and machine learning, for example by leveraging social media for detecting mental disorders and developing predictive models aimed at characterizing the aetiology and progression of mental disorders. These various efforts using social media, as summarized in this commentary, hold promise for improving the lives of individuals living with mental disorders.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.