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MBIS Rates of Depression by Media Use Quintiles, December 2012. This chart demonstrates the percent of subjects with depression in each media quintile. Quintiles were determined by ordering subjects based on estimated minutes of a given media consumed; the first 1/5 used the least of a given media and comprised the 0–20% quintile, the second fifth used more than the first 1/5 (but less than the third 1/5) and comprised the 21–40% quintile, and so on. Quintiles were computed for each type of media use of interest and graphed side by side. The graph depicts a clear trend associating increased media usage with increased rates of depression.
Source publication
Depression is a debilitating condition that adversely affects many aspects of a person's life and general health. Earlier work has supported the idea that there may be a relationship between the use of certain media and depression. In this study, we tested if self-report of depression (SRD), which is not a clinically based diagnosis, was associated...
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Citations
... This prediction is also supported by the available evidence. For example, Block et al. (2014) found that women are more likely to develop social network addiction when they are depressed or have unmet social needs, and this is in large part because they see social networks as a way to fill a sense of emptiness. Using structural equation modeling, Mo et al. (2018) found that social support in women was more strongly correlated with emotional disorders, Internet use, and Internet addiction than it was in men. ...
... Specifically, social support significantly negatively predicted the degree of Internet addiction of female college freshmen, but not of male college freshmen. This result is consistent with H1 and supports previous findings that women are more likely to suffer from social network addiction than men when their social needs are not fully met (Block et al., 2014;Mo et al., 2018). According to network use satisfaction theory, the repeated reinforcement of satisfaction obtained in the network world is a key to making individuals addicted to the Internet. ...
Purpose
Internet addiction has become a worldwide mental health problem, and this problem is particularly prominent in China. Although current studies have shown that social support is closely related to Internet addiction, the mechanism of the relationship between the two is not clear at present. This study aimed to find out the influencing factors and the mechanism of Internet addiction among college freshmen, and to form scientific prevention and intervention plan on this basis.
Method
This study adopts the cluster sampling method to select 322 college freshmen in a typical postsecondary school in Shandong Province, using Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and Network-related Maladaptive Cognition Scale (NRMCS) to investigate the relationship between social support, network-related maladaptive cognition, gender, and the degree of Internet addiction.
Results
The findings of this study are as follows: (1) After controlling age and family location, social support had a significant negative predictive effect on Internet addiction; (2) Gender acted as a moderator between the relationship of social support and Internet addiction; and (3) Additionally, the moderating effect of gender was completely mediated by network-related maladaptive cognition.
Conclusion
There is a mediated moderating effect between social support and Internet addiction. That is, gender plays a moderating role between social support and Internet addiction, and this moderating effect is mediated by network maladaptive cognition.
... Inmates who responded affirmatively to the first two questions and negatively to the third question were considered to have been diagnosed during incarceration, and therefore having the outcome. Notably, the self-report has been used in other studies on depression (Block et al., 2014;Bishwajit et al., 2017;Eriksson et al., 2004) ...
Purpose:
Depression has become a major health concern, particularly in developing countries. This disorder is highly prevalent among certain vulnerable populations, such as prisoners. In Peru, prisons are overcrowded, and the health of prisoners is neglected. Thus, this study aims to estimate the prevalence of depression diagnosed during incarceration in male inmates from all Peruvian prisons and assess its associated factors.
Design/methodology/approach:
A cross-sectional study was conducted based on the secondary data analysis of the National Census of Prison Population 2016 in Peru. This study included records of prisoners who reported whether they were diagnosed with depression by a health-care professional after admission into the prisons. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed.
Findings:
Of the 63,312 prisoners included in this study, 1,007 reported an in-prison diagnosis of depression by a health-care professional, which represents a prevalence of 1.59%. Substance use disorder (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 3.10; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91-5.03), hypertension (aPR 7.20; 95% CI: 6.28-8.24) and previous discrimination (aPR 1.97; 95% CI: 1.62-2.40) were strongly associated with depression, even when adjusting for multiple confounders. Other directly associated variables were, for example, violence during childhood, infrequent visits in prison and diabetes.
Originality/value:
The right of prisoners to adequate health care is being neglected in Peru. Mental health is a cornerstone of health quality. Acknowledging which factors are associated with depression in prison is important to implement strategies to improve the mental health of prisoners.
... Having a gradually shrinking social circle (due to declined physiological function or financial ability), older people tend to use media (such as watching TV) as their primary source of daily information and entertainment [6]. However, previous research suggests that the mental health of the audience is dependent on media usage [7]. In other words, the duration of media usage and the type of the media consumed may affect the mental health and quality of life of older adults [8,9]. ...
Background:
The uses and gratifications theory suggests that various types of media can greatly affect people's lives. This is especially true among older adults who tend to use media for leisure. However, there is insufficient research regarding the relationship between media usage, depression, and quality of life among older adults.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to explore the association between media usage (traditional and internet media), depression, and quality of life among older adults.
Methods:
Using a cross-sectional design, this study recruited individuals aged 65 years and older in central Taiwan and collected data via a structured questionnaire. Contents of the questionnaire included demographic details, a media usage behavior questionnaire, the Brief Symptoms Rating Scale (BSRS-5), and the Quality of Life Scale developed by the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF). Subsequently, multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the association between media usage, depression, and quality of life of older adults.
Results:
The average age of the 252 participants (107 males) was 70.0 ± 5.4 years. Regression analysis revealed a significant, negative relationship between the number of hours spent watching television and the degree of depression. Additionally, the number of hours spent watching television was significantly negatively related to the quality of life in terms of both the psychological health and social relationships categories. In contrast, the number of hours spent reading newspapers and magazines was significantly positively related to quality of life in the categories of psychological health, social relationships, and environment. Finally, the number of hours spent browsing internet media was significantly positively related to the quality of life in the psychological health category.
Conclusion:
Media usage may affect the degree of depression and quality of life of older adults depending on the type of media and amount of usage.
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... [24] Another study showed that excessive social media use affected university students' academic performance and correlated significantly with depressive symptoms. [25] In contrast, however, a large study conducted by Block et al. [26] in 2014 showed that the increased use of social media might not be the main cause for depressive symptoms or even depression; instead, these people may have experienced major setbacks or problems. ...
Background:
Excessive use of social media sites and applications was reported to be associated with depressive symptoms. We determined the association between social media use and depressive symptoms among adults in Riyadh and correlated the results with other studies.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was performed using a self-administered survey questionnaire distributed to participants aged 13 years old and above. The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was used as a screening tool to measure depression. Positive and negative affective experiences were also assessed.
Results:
A total of 467 participants with a mean age of 27.0 ± 10.9 years were surveyed; 269 (57.6%) were males, and 198 (42.4%) were females. The mean of the total PHQ-9 score was 8.7 ± 5.8. There were 17 patients (3.6%) with no depression, 103 (22.1%) with minimal depression, 160 (34.3%) with mild depression, 113 (24.2%) with moderate depression, 47 (10.1%) with moderately severe depression, and 27 (5.8%) with severe depression. Females significantly had experienced moderate to severe depression compared to males (P = 0.040, OR = 1.48). One hundred eighty-seven respondents (40.0%) had moderate to severe depression on the three dimensions of social networking sites (SNSs) usage. The PHQ-9 score was positively significantly correlated with all three dimensions of the use of SNSs. The negative affective experiences ranked high among other affective experiences with depression, the highest mean of all the scales (5.8 ± 1.4). The positive affective experiences scored low, with contentment scoring the lowest (3.7 ± 1.9).
Conclusion:
A high percentage of moderate to severe depression and negative affective experiences, including anger and happiness, exists among individuals who excessively use and spend a lot more time using SNSs. A greater tendency toward depression occurs among females. Although the data from this study are self-reported, there is a need for health practitioners and family physicians to identify early signs of depression that warrants early intervention to address to mitigate and prevent the potentially harmful consequences that might happen in the future.
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Introduction
With France one of the European countries most strongly affected by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, French authorities imposed a nationwide lockdown for 8 weeks (March 17–May 10). This study explored the perception of the adult population about the need for—and access to—psychological support from health care professionals (HCP) in response to concerns about the psychological needs during lockdown.
Material and method
This online cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the adult general population of mainland France (N = 2,003) took place during the last four days of the French lockdown (May 7–10, 2020).
Results
One in eight respondents (12.2%) perceived a need for psychological support from an HCP during the lockdown; most had symptoms of depression and/or anxiety of at least moderate intensity. Only a third (29.8%, 3.6% of the entire sample) actually obtained this support. Factors associated with this perceived need included: age under 35, economic difficulties due to lockdown, pre-lockdown use of psychological support, infection with COVID-19, serious worries about becoming infected, and heavy media use to obtain information about the disease. Among those who perceived a need for psychological support, the elderly were the most likely not to consult an HCP. People aged 35–64, those with high income, and those seriously worried about developing COVID-19 were the most likely to forgo seeking access to care because of their fear of infection by the coronavirus-2019.
Conclusion
The perceived need for psychological support from an HCP and access to it appeared to be strongly associated with COVID-19 exposure factor. More research about this association is needed to improve the health authorities’ understanding of the population’s psychological needs in this situation and to enhance HCPs’ abilities to meet them. In particular, further research of its specific impact on youth is necessary.
... Negativity can inevitably transfer to the media user. In one study, self-reports of depression were linked to use of more media, including internet, television, and social media (Block et al. 2014). This negativity is only exacerbated by hate speech and internet trolls. ...
... However, a researcher should take into account that symptoms of complex psychological disorders, such as depression, diagnosed among users addicted to Internet practices, are more associated with the social position of individuals than with the pathological enthusiasm for the Internet, as evidenced by the results of the study (Block et al., 2014), which was attended by 19 776 subjects (USA) over the age of 18 years, based on the participants' self-reports on the experienced depression. The results show that individuals experiencing economic or physical life failures are much more prone to depression, even without considering their problematic use of the media. ...
... SMA tendencies are also related to psychosocial factors in females (Chae et al., 2017). Specifically, females may use social media to fill voids when depressed and social needs are not fully met, thereby increasing the likelihood of SMA (Block et al., 2014;Chae et al., 2017). Together, data suggest that gender-related differences in IGD and SMA likely involve biological, psychological, and social factors. ...
Males have been proposed to be more vulnerable to internet addiction (IA) than females. However, males and females may differ with respect to specific patterns and types of internet usage and related IA. To investigate further, a meta-analysis was conducted to investigate gender-related differences in internet gaming disorder (IGD) and social media addiction (SMA). The current meta-analysis aimed to quantify gender-related effect sizes relating to IGD and SMA, examine potential moderating influences of regions and other possible confounds, and compare the findings with generalized IA at the country level. The meta-analysis comprised 53 effect sizes with 82,440 individuals from 21 countries/regions for IGD, and 41 effect sizes with 58,336 individuals from 22 countries/regions for SMA. A random-effects model confirmed important gender-specific distinctions as men were more likely to exhibit IGD than women (g = 0.479) and less likely to exhibit SMA than women (g = −0.202). Additional moderator analyses revealed that effect sizes of IGD and SMA were larger in Europe and the Americas than in Asia. Further analyses indicated that the effect sizes of gender-related differences in IGD and SMA at the country-level were significantly larger than those in generalized IA, which suggests that gender-related differences in specific IAs may be underestimated in the “umbrella” of generalized IA. Results have implications for explaining why males and females may become addicted to internet use through different pathways.
... Some studies were e-cigarette-related, e.g., e-cigarette-related YouTube videos [48], analysis on e-cigarettes-related tweeter content [49], and e-cigarette advertisements on Twitter [50]. In addition, there were a few researches concentrating on depression, e.g., major depressive disorder screening [51], the relationship between depression and media usage [52], and perceived social support [53]. ...
This chapter presents a quantitative and visual analysis of social media and health research publications from Web of Science database during the year 2007–2017. The analysis is conducted using a bibliometric method, a social network analysis method, and a latent dirichlet allocation method to acquire the predominant subjects, journals, and countries, the collaboration relationship, and the major topics. Some interesting results are presented. For example, Journal of Medical Internet Research is the most influential journal. Public, Environmental & Occupational Health and Health Care Sciences & Services are the subjects with the most publications and citations, respectively. The USA is the most influential country with 1317 publications and an H-index of 53. Twenty topics are identified with potential themes as: Sex-related event, Analysis on medical-related content, Vaccine, Adverse drug reactions, Diet and weight control, Smoking cessation, Nursing, etc., which have received much more attention in scientific community during 2012–2017 compared with the period 2007–2011.
... Additionally, some studies suggested an increase in depression and anxiety 34,35 , a reduction of empathy 36 and an impairment of socially oriented behavior 37 as a consequence of VG playing. However recent studies have refuted such data showing no effect on social behaviour 38 and improvements in empathy 39 . ...
The public opinion is ever more interested and worried about possible effects of exposure to
VGs (video games) on human life and well-being. Scientific literature shows several evidences
highlighting negative outcomes on behavioural, emotive, cognitive and physical health spheres. All
these aspects are intrinsically linked to sleep quality and quantity and to date very few studies
directly investigated the effects of videogame (VG) exposure on sleep and post-sleep cognitive
status. The aim of the present systematic review is to examine the impact that the exposure to VGs
can produce on sleep pattern and the consequent post-sleep cognitive abilities. To this extent, only
studies directly investigating the effects of VGs on sleep features and post-sleep cognitive abilities
have been selected and discussed. Data currently present in literature show the alteration of sleep
pattern after exposure to VGs. The analysis indicated a reduction of Total Sleep Time (TST) and
an increase of Sleep Onset Latency (SOL), modifications of the REM sleep and Slow Wave Sleep
(SWS), and increased sleepiness and self-perceived fatigue. Moreover, post-sleep sustained attention
and verbal memory also appear to be impaired. It can be concluded that playing VGs for long
periods, particularly in the evening, is a significant, common and probable cause of sleep problems:
evening exposure to VGs, in fact, can bring to insufficient and low quality sleep, with possible
effects on cognition in the subsequent waking days. Potential methodological flaws and limitations
of these studies have also been described and discussed. Because of the very limited number of
available study on this topic further research is strongly needed.
