1. Looking through a filtered lens: Negative social comparison on social media and suicidal ideation among young adults.
Spitzer, E. G., et al.
Young adults who engage in comparisons to others on social media and thus feel bad about themselves are more likely to think about suicide, this research in Psychology of Popular Media (Vol. 12, No. 1)opens in new window suggests. Researchers surveyed 456 college students about their frequency of social media use and used scales to assess participants’ tendency to engage in negative social comparison on Instagram and Facebook, suicidal ideation, and thwarted belongingness (i.e., feeling as if lacking connections or meaningful relationships with others). Results indicated that participants who engaged in negative social comparisons were more likely to report suicidal ideation than those who did not. Specifically, on Instagram, those who negatively compared themselves to others the most also showed the highest levels of association between thwarted belongingness and suicidal ideation. These findings suggest the need for limits on social media use and education around its mental health effects.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000380
2. Self-compassion and women’s experience of social media content portraying body positivity and appearance ideals.
Rutter, H., et al.
The type of social media content women view can affect their self-compassion—how kind to themselves and accepting of their flaws they are—suggests this study in Psychology of Popular Mediaopens in new window (advance online publication). In two experiments, a total of 247 women viewed content consistent with appearance ideals (fitspiration body photos; faces with makeup), appearance-neutral content (landscapes), or body-positive content (body-positive body photos, body-positive quotes, faces without makeup). In both experiments, women who viewed content consistent with appearance ideals reported a state of worse self-compassion and worse thoughts about themselves than those who viewed body-positive or appearance-neutral content. Women who already had daily low self-compassion or high disordered-eating symptoms were the most affected by viewing content consistent with appearance ideals. On the contrary, viewing body-positive content increased the state of self-compassion relative to viewing appearance-neutral content.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000453
3. Reducing social media use improves appearance and weight esteem in youth with emotional distress.
Thai, H., et al.
Reducing smartphone social media use to 1 hour per day might improve body image and weight esteem in youth with emotional distress who are heavy social media users, this study in Psychology of Popular Mediaopens in new window (advance online publication) suggests. The researchers randomly assigned 220 participants (ages 17 to 25 who used social media at least 2 hours per day) to either a 4-week intervention in which they limited their social media use to 1 hour per day or to a control condition with unrestricted access to social media. After the 4-week intervention, the group with restricted social media use felt better about their appearance and weight relative to before the intervention, whereas the other group showed no changes. Thus, reducing smartphone social media use appears to be a good method to improve how youths feel about their appearance and weight and could become a component in the prevention and treatment of body image-related disturbances.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000460
4. Interventions to reduce the negative impact of online highly visual social networking site use on mental health outcomes: A scoping review.
Herriman, Z., et al.
In this review, published in Psychology of Popular Mediaopens in new window (advance online publication), researchers identified 39 studies published between 2011 and 2022 that examined how interventions designed to reduce the negative impact of online highly visual social networking site (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) use impact mental health. Most of the studies were conducted on Western adults younger than age 35 and varied widely in terms of the variables assessed, making it difficult to highlight overall conclusions. Nevertheless, results indicate that interventions focused on reducing the exposure to highly visual social media platforms benefited well-being but may also reduce social connectedness. Interventions focused on social media literacy programs may reduce addiction and improve body image. Other interventions that adopted varied psychological approaches did not appear to lead to significant results. The researchers also highlighted the gaps in research that should be addressed to improve the efficacy of such interventions, including a need for interventions that are more guided by psychological theories and assessments of these interventions that are rigorous and include diverse populations.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000455
5. On the outside looking in: Social media intensity, social connection, and user well-being: The moderating role of passive social media use.
Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E.
According to this study in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science (Vol. 55, No. 3)opens in new window, heavy passive social media use may be linked with a weaker sense of social connection and well-being. In two survey-based studies with 226 participants in the United States, researchers found that passive engagement with social media (viewing social media but not regularly posting or interacting through the platform) was associated with less social connection, lower well-being, and higher stress. In a third, experimental study, with 160 participants, the researchers asked participants to use social media heavily (10 minutes) or lightly (5 minutes) and engage with it actively or passively. The results indicated that heavy social media use had a negative impact on feelings of social connection when used passively but a positive effect when used actively.
DOI: 10.1037/cbs0000323
6. Social media usage is associated with lower knowledge about anxiety and indiscriminate use of anxiety coping strategies.
Wolenski, R., & Pettit, J. W.
Social media might not be the best source to learn about anxiety and how to reduce it, this study in Psychology of Popular Mediaopens in new window (advance online publication) suggests. Young adults (N=250) responded to an online survey in which they reported their sources of information about anxiety, the strategies they use to cope with anxiety, and their anxiety symptoms and severity. The researchers also tested participants’ knowledge about anxiety. Participants rated the internet (e.g., Wikipedia, medical websites) as their most used information source, followed by friends and family, therapy, and social media. Participants with an anxiety diagnosis or severe symptoms sought information on social media more frequently than the other participants. Across all participants, those who sought information on social media more frequently showed a lower knowledge about anxiety and were more likely to report using both adaptive and maladaptive strategies to reduce anxiety. On the contrary, using the internet was associated with more knowledge about anxiety. These findings suggest the need to promote the dissemination of accurate information about anxiety on social media.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000456
7. The psychological scaffolding of arithmetic
Grice, M., et al.
In this article in Psychological Reviewopens in new window (advance online publication), the authors propose that arithmetic has a biological origin, rather than philosophical, logical, or cognitive basis. This assertion rests on four principles of perceptual organization—monotonicity, convexity, continuity, and isomorphism—that shape how humans and other animals experience the world. According to the authors, these principles exclude all possibilities except the existence of arithmetic. Monotonicity is the idea that things change in the same direction, so that approaching objects appear to expand, while retreating objects appear to shrink. Convexity deals with betweenness, such that the four corners of a soccer pitch define the playing field even without boundary lines connecting them. Continuity describes the smoothness with which objects appear to move in time and space. Isomorphism is the idea of analogy, allowing people to recognize that cats are more similar to dogs than rocks. The authors’ analysis suggests that arithmetic is not necessarily an immutable truth of the universe but rather follows as a natural consequence of our perceptual system.
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000431
8. An evaluation of cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders: A systematic review and application of the society of clinical psychology criteria for empirically supported treatments.
Boness C. L., et al.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), is the conclusion of this review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice (Vol. 30, No. 2)opens in new window. The researchers reviewed five meta-analyses of the effect of CBT on SUD, but only one had sufficient quality for inclusion to evaluate the size of the effects of CBT. This meta-analysis found that CBT produced small to moderate effects on SUD when compared with minimal treatment (e.g., waitlist, brief psychoeducation) and nonspecific treatment (e.g., treatment as usual, drug counseling). These effects were smaller in magnitude when compared with other active treatments (e.g., motivational interviewing, contingency management). The effects of CBT on SUD tended to diminish over time (i.e., CBT was most effective at early follow-up of 1 to 6 months posttreatment compared with late follow-up of at least 8 months posttreatment). The researchers recommend CBT to be used as an evidence-based approach to SUD but highlight the need for more research to identify patient characteristics that might moderate response to CBT and the best deployment of CBT (e.g., as a standalone or an adjunct intervention).
DOI: 10.1037/cps0000131
9. A network approach to understanding parenting: Linking coparenting, parenting styles, and parental involvement in rearing adolescents in different age groups.
Liu, S., et al.
Mothers’ and fathers’ behaviors that promote a sense of family integrity (i.e., coparenting integrity), warmth, and emotional involvement are central components of the parenting network in two-parent families, according to this study in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 59, No. 4)opens in new window. Researchers used network analysis to explore different facets of maternal and paternal coparenting (e.g., integrity, conflict), parenting styles (e.g., rejection, warmth), and parental involvement (e.g., emotional support, discipline) in two-parent families in China with a total of 4,852 adolescents at different stages of adolescence. They found that maternal and paternal coparenting integrity, warm parenting style, and emotional involvement were key to the parenting network, as indicated by the central spot they occupied in the network analysis. They also found that the expected influence of these characteristics varied for adolescents in different developmental stages—maternal integrity, warmth, and emotional involvement were important throughout adolescence, but paternal integrity, warmth, and emotional involvement were particularly important in early adolescence. The results suggest that supportive parenting might be a prime target for enhancing parenting systems.
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001470
10. Seeking connection, autonomy, and emotional feedback: A self-determination theory of self-regulation in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Champ, R.E., et al.
In this article in Psychological Review (Vol. 130, No. 3)opens in new window, the authors propose a new framework on the basis of self-determination theory (SDT) for understanding attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developing treatment approaches. The researchers suggest that using SDT, which proposes that humans have a natural tendency toward growth and self-actualization, supporting intrinsic motivation and self-organization, can offer a new positive understanding of ADHD and its symptoms. This approach counters the negative characterizations of ADHD; moves beyond symptom reduction and the focus on how ADHD presents motivation, engagement, and self-regulation issues; and instead focuses on potential positive aspects of ADHD and well-being. In addition, the framework highlights the need to help individuals with ADHD better understand how they function, tell the difference between biological and individual needs, and develop self-autonomy and self-regulation skills. According to this SDT approach, treatments that are autonomy supportive and increase self-determination could improve the functioning of individuals with ADHD.
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000398
