The effects of TikTok and social media are explored to understand how detrimental social networking sites are to one\u27s mental health. The research and literature show how the overuse of social media contributes to social media addiction, mental health issues, body dysmorphia, and cyberbullying. A study is analyzed that reports how many are affected by cyberbullying and whether they received counseling for their mental health. It was concluded that social media does much more harm than good, and users could try altering their lives by reducing the amount of time spent on social networking sites

Engel, Cameryn

Piscitelli, Malia

Ricciardi, Natalie

Rockwell, Jessica

Sullivan, Haley

English

Sacred Heart University: DigitalCommons@SHU

RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2015www.PosterPresentations.com• Technology has proven itself beneficial in many ways, with a total of 3.6 billion social media users worldwide (Silver & Clancy, 2023)• Social media: media consumption that allows individuals to view, create, share content, and participate in online communities. • Current news in the U.S. shows banning TikTok due to privacy and concerns, as more than twice as many Americans support thebanning of TikTok (Pew Research Center, 2021)• Social media has become a pivotal component of the lives of many Americans, but their need for entertainment and connection creates a smoke screen for the dangers that social media imposes if not used in moderation• Addiction: People experience an altered sense of time when scrolling for hours, exhibit short attention spans and cannot watch shows or movies without scrolling on their phone, they develop a dependency, may cause sleep loss (Thomson, K., et al., 2021)• Mental Health: Social media exacerbates anxiety and stress, endure psychological damage trying to feel of sense of belonging in the community. User compares life to others even though social media portrays perfection (O, D. E. B., & Heimberg, R. G., 2021)• Body Dysmorphia/fitspiration: Comparing physical looks to unrealistic standards, commonly seeing edited photos. Workout advice from fitspiration accounts as all bodies are different- can lead to body dysmorphia and other disorders (Wickline & Keel, 2020)• Cyberbullying: Normalized harassment, disguised as humor as a way to get likes, comments, and shares to win gratification from others (State News Service, 2021)BackgroundObjectives• Research was conducted through observational research, utilizing cross-sectional secondary data from The National Health Interview Survey• The research question focused on the impact of social media on one’s mental health status, although the data that was accessible focused on cyberbullying and receiving mental health care• The data for the study was taken from the year 2022 and consisted of 3,087 children aged 12 to 17 years old• Sample consisted of 1,606 male participants and 1,480 femaleparticipants• Questions asked:• “During the past 23 months, did ^SCNAME receive counseling or therapy from a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or clinical social worker?”• “During the past 12 months, has ^SCNAME been electronically bullied?”• Answers were documented as “Yes”, “No”, “Refused”, “Not Ascertained”, or “Don’t Know”• The exposure variable of the research is whether the sample child experienced cyberbullying, and the outcome variable is whether the sample child has received mental health counselingor therapy through a mental health professional• To test the hypothesis, a frequency analysis was conducted to test the two variables to provide frequency column percentages that show the logistic relation between themMethods• The final number of participants used in the analytic sample was 3,087 children aged 12 to 17 years old (n=3,087)• When the participants were asked if they have been cyberbullied in the past 12 months, 6.19% of participants reported “Yes” and 93.91% reported “No” (Figure 2)• When asked the question if the participants have received counseling/therapy from a mental health professional in the past 12 months, 14.61% of participants reported: “Yes” and 85.39% of participants reported “No” (Figure 1)• When cross-analyzing the two variables, 13.1% of participants reported “Yes” to receiving mental health counseling/therapy • 37.17% of participants reported “Yes” to receiving mental health counseling and therapy and “Yes” to being cyberbullied in the past 12 months (Figure 3)• After interpreting the frequency analysis and logistic regression model, it was determined that seeking mental health services was significantly associated with cyberbullying, (p <0.001)• The odds ratio of the data set was 3.92, indicating that adolescence who reported being cyberbullied were more likely to seek mental health counseling and therapy services than those who were not cyberbullied• The results of the correlation were found to be in line with the hypothesis because it was stated that social media usage and cyberbullying are positively associated• Cyberbullying is significantly associated with the confinement of mental health services, supporting the hypothesis that social media use can be detrimental to one’s mental healthResults Conclusion• Cyberbullying is not an uncommon occurrence in the digital world, as this behavior is normalized while others are subjected to being dehumanized by anonymous perpetrators• Limitation: It is worth noting that there were no datasetsrepresenting how social media has a negative impact on an individual’s mental health and the focus age group• Future studies could explore the how TikTok and social media have become increasingly dangerous on one’s mental well-being• The algorithm was programmed to keep users engaged for longperiods of time and it leads to an unreasonable amount of screen time- discover brain pathways causing long hours of scrolling• Studies could show how social media impacts the physical andoptical health of a regular users• The feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, and body dysmorphia should be investigated to develop solutions to dissolve the unrealistic physical standards that appear online• Young adults struggle to watch long-length clips and movies due to their newly shortened attention spans. Healthy habits need to be formed to reset what makes a person stimulated• Social media breaks should be promoted and regularized in order to improve attention spans, mental health, productiveness, and self-esteem• Users could set time limits on their social media usage and spendtheir time promoting their mental and physical health, such as chess, brain games, reading, and getting active• Just like a new medication or vaccine, it would surely take aprolonged amount of time to pinpoint exactly how this is affecting the users. It is better to stop the problems before the effects become irreversible. ReferencesSilver, L. & Clancy, L. (2023). By more than two-to-one, Americans support U.S. government banning TikTok. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/03/31/by-a-more-than-two-to-one-margin-americans-support-us-government-banning-tiktok/Vogels, E. A., Gelles-Watnick, R., & Massarat, N. (2022). Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022. Pew Research Center.https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/State News Service. (2021). Social Media Addiction Linked to Cyberbully. States News Service. https://link-gale-com.sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A656762276/AONE?u=24034&sid=ebsco&xid=88ba0ce6Thomson, K., Hunter, S. C., Butler, S. H., & Robertson, D. J. (2021). Social media ‘addiction’: The absence of an attentional bias to social media stimuli. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10(2), 302–313. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00011O, D. E. B., & Heimberg, R. G. (2021). Social media use, social anxiety, and loneliness: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 3. https://doi-org.sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100070Wickline R., & Keel, P. K. (2020). Posting edited photos of the self: Increasing eating disorder risk or harmless behavior? The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53(6), 864. https://doiorg.sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/eat.23263• To further the understanding of how social media has deeply harmful effects that can impact one’s mental well-being and relationships• To encourage limiting social media usage and turning to healthier hobbies and activities that would instead enlighten an individual’s life and decrease addictive tendencies• To uncover the frequency of cyberbullying, which proves how universalized it is to harass others online and how easy it is to do that anonymously behind a screenCollege of Health Professions, Sacred Heart UniversityCameryn Engel, Malia Piscitelli, Natalie Ricciardi, Jessica Rockwell, and Haley SullivanThe Rise of a New Mental Health Epidemic: TikTok and Social Media,and Their Negative Impact on Young AdultsFigure 1. This graph shows the percentage of adolescence receiving mental health counseling/therapy, with 14.61% reported “Yes”Figure 3. This graph shows the relationship between cyberbullying and receiving mental health care in adolescence, with 37.17% reported “Yes”Figure 2. This graph displayed the percentage of adolescence experiencing cyberbullying, as 6.19% reported ”Yes”1Piscitelli et al.: The Rise of a New Mental Health Epidemic: TikTok and Social MediaPublished by DigitalCommons@SHU, 2023

The Rise of a New Mental Health Epidemic: TikTok and Social Media, and Their Negative Impact on Young Adults

https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2117&context=acadfest

The Rise of a New Mental Health Epidemic: TikTok and Social Media, and Their Negative Impact on Young Adults

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