Hopelab & Well Being Trust 7
Employing a widely used and well-validated scale to measure respon-
dents' self-reported levels of depressive symptoms (the PHQ-8), we
present a preliminary look at whether those who report moderate to
severe depressive symptoms differ from those without symptoms in
how they report using social media.
5
It is important to note that due to
the cross-sectional, self-reported nature of these survey responses, we
are not able to assess the full possible relationship between social media
use and depression, nor can we draw any conclusions with regard to
causality. Rather, this survey is intended as a beginning – an attempt
to gather a wide range of information on the many ways young people
report using and responding to social media, and how their reported
social media use does or does not vary based on their depressive
symptoms as measured by the PHQ-8.
In the section of the report on social media and mental well-being,
the questions we seek to answer include:
5
We used the PHQ-8, an eight-item
validated scale widely used in academic
and medical literature as a measure of
depressive symptoms. See for example
Kroenke, K., Strine, T.W., Spitzer, R.L.,
Williams, J. B. W., Berry, J.T., & Mokdad,
A.H. (2009). "The PHQ-8 as a measure of
current depression in the general popula-
tion." Journal of Affective Disorders, 114,
163-173. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.06.026.
(The Methodology section of this report
includes a more complete discussion
of the measures of depressive symptoms
used in this survey.)
• Is there a correlation between reported frequency of social media
use and reported depressive symptoms among teens and young
adults?
• Do TYAs with and without current symptoms of depression report
using social media in different ways, such as actively vs. passively?
• Do they say they have different experiences in terms of getting
positive or negative feedback from others?
• Do teens and young adults with depressive symptoms report
feeling better, or worse – more connected, or more alone – when
using social media?
• And how do young people say they use social media when they
notice they are feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed? Are there
patterns in how they describe using social media at these times?
Introduction
