Social Media & Mental Health

Project Lead Category Project status
Nastasia Griffioen Social Media Completed

Social media are immensely popular, and - as it happens - a dense source of social information. In this project, we investigate what sort of information and experiences young people encounter on these social media, and how these things relate to their mental wellbeing, as well as how young people's momentary wellbeing relates to their social media behaviours.

Project team

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30-10-2017


Social Information and Social Media

We rely on social interactions for many things that are essential to our survival, such as food, safety, and even health. Some theories go as far as to propose that the human brain is uniquely attuned to (and to a certain degree dependent on) social interactions in order to deal with environmental challenges in a minimally effortful way (e.g. see Social Baseline Theory). Our propensity to seek out and exploit contact with others has most profoundly expressed itself in the form of social media and the fervour with which they are used, especially by youth. 

Since the emergence of these platforms, social media have been pinpointed as one of the potential sources of the decreases that we see in a child and adolescent mental wellbeing. However, more and more recent research on this subject indicates that the relationship between social media use and wellbeing might not be as straightforward as previously thought, and that any potential relationship is likely not about quantity of social media use, but about specific experiences in those platforms. What sort of (social) information do youth encounter on social media? And from whom does this information come? How does it make them feel, while navigating these social platforms? And does the way in which these youth sample and process these snippets of social information matter for how it will affect them over time?

These - and other - questions are at the heart of this project, in which we attempt to unravel the relationships between what sort of social information youngsters encounter on social media, and how it affects them. 

To do this, we have developed a novel and interdisciplinary paradigm, called 'stimulated recall of social media use'. Read more about it in our recently published paper.



Publications

  • The Benefits of Playing Video Games

    Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). American Psychologist, 69, 66-78.

    Author: Isabela Granic

    Upload date: 01-17-2014

  • Heterogeneity in some relationships between social media use and emerging adults’ affective wellbeing

    Griffioen, N., Scholten, H., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A. et al. Heterogeneity in some relationships between social media use and emerging adults’ affective wellbeing. Curr Psychol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04035-5

    Author: Nastasia Griffioen

    Upload date: 12-03-2022

  • Limits at infinity: Exploring emerging adults' complex relationship with social media [Doctoral Dissertation]

    N. Griffioen (2022). Limits at infinity: Exploring emerging adults' complex relationship with social media. Doctoral Thesis. Radboud University.

    Author: Nastasia Griffioen

    Upload date: 09-12-2022

  • Digital Media and the Dual Aspect of Adolescent Identity Development: The Effects of Digital Media Use on Adolescents’ Commitments and Self-Stories

    Morita, H., Griffioen, N., & Granic, I. (2022). Digital Media and the Dual Aspect of Adolescent Identity Development: The Effects of Digital Media Use on Adolescents’ Commitments and Self-Stories. In J. Nesi, E. Telzer, & M. Prinstein (Eds.), Handbook of Adolescent Digital Media Use and Mental Health (pp. 63-84). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Author: Hiromitsu Morita

    Upload date: 06-30-2022

  • From Wellbeing to Social Media Use and Back: Using a Novel Method to Assess the Bi-Directional Relationship Between Momentary Wellbeing and Social Media Use

    Griffioen, N., Van Rooij, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2021). From Wellbeing to Social Media Use and Back: Using a Novel Method to Assess the Bi-Directional Relationship Between Momentary Wellbeing and Social Media Use. Frontiers in Psychology: Human-Media Interaction, 12:789302.

    Author: Nastasia Griffioen

    Upload date: 12-24-2021

  • Everyone Does It—Differently: A Window into Emerging Adults’ Smartphone Use

    Griffioen, N., Scholten, H., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A. et al. (2021). Humanit Soc Sci Commun 8, 177. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00863-1

    Author: Nastasia Griffioen

    Upload date: 07-20-2021

  • A Stimulated Recall Method for the Improved Assessment of Quantity and Quality of Social Media Use

    Griffioen, N., Van Rooij, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020). J Med Internet Res 2020;22(1):e15529.

    Author: Nastasia Griffioen

    Upload date: 01-28-2020

Project team

Nastasia Griffioen title=
Nastasia Griffioen
Chief Scientific Officer

Nerd, is fascinated by the brain even more than your average zombie, into etymology and reading, drawn to anything tech-related, especially artificial intelligence. Wants to explore social tech (such as social media) and how these relate to young people's wellbeing.

Function

Post Doctorate at University of Twente

Contact

E-mail Nastasia

Isabela Granic title=
Isabela Granic
Director of GEMH Lab

Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers

Function

Professor at McMaster's University & Co-founder of PlayNice Interactive

Contact

E-mail Isabela

Hanneke Scholten title=
Hanneke Scholten
Co-Director of GEMH Lab

Researcher, interdisciplinary work and collaboration, wants to understand the how's and why's, loves her high heels and coffee in the morning, walks and talks too fast.

Function

Assistant Professor at Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital

Contact

E-mail Hanneke

Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff title=
Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff
Collaborator

I am not so interested in *whether* certain interventions work but *how* they work. That is, I am mainly focusing on underlying processes and mechanisms of change across diagnostic categories and different treatment modalities. Mother of two wild boys!

Function

Professor of Orthopedagogics at University of Groningen

Contact

E-mail Anna

Sources

All sources
  • Beck, A.T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, Experimental, and Theoretical Aspects. New York: Harper & Row.
  • Beckes, L., & Coan, J.A. (2011). Social baseline theory: The role of social proximity in emotion and economy of action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 976-988.
  • Bloomberg, L., Meyers, J., & Braverman, M.T. (1994). The importance of social interaction: A new perspective on epidemiology, social risk factors, and health. Health Education and Behavior, 4, 447-463.
  • Brewin, C.R., Reynolds, M., & Tata, P. (1999). Autobiographical memory processes and the course of depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108, 511-517.
  • Downey, G., & Feldman, S. I. (1996). Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1327-1343.
  • Slavich, G.M., & Irwin, M.R. (2014). From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: a social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 774-815.
  • Smoski, M.J., Lynch, T.R., Rosenthal, M.Z., Cheavens, J.S., Chapman, A.L., Krishnan, R.R. (2008). Decision-making and risk aversion among depressive adults. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 4, 567-576.
  • Young, J.J., Bruno, D., & Pomara, N. (2014). A review of the relationship between proinflammatory cytokines and major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 169, 15-20.