Research Proposal- Social Media vs. Mental Health

My research topic is how the ever changing social media platforms affect the mental health of younger generations- specifically individuals under 18 years of age.

Hypothesis: Individuals under 18 who scroll social media one or more times in a day have a higher risk of mental health issues.

Proposal Outline:

Introduction: An overview of the research topic, also including how many individuals use social media followed by a percentage who also have mental health issues (Bashir&Bhat, 2017). Go over what the research proposal goal is to prove/discover. Explain why this research is important in 2022 and moving forward as social media and humanity evolve.

  • How does social media affect people’s mental health?
    • Diefenbach & Anders, 2022
    • Dubicka & Firth, 2019
    • McIntyre & Gibson, 2016
  • How does social media target younger members of society?
    • Binns, 2014
    • Twenge, Blake, Haidt, & Campbell, 2020
    • Avinash, 2019
  • Are there different types of people subject to mental illness from social media?
    • Sidani, Escobar-Viera, Primack, 2020
    • Mishna, Regehr, Lacombe-Duncan, Daciuk, Fearing, & Van Wert, 2018
    • Binns 2014

Methodology: 

  • Two groups of individuals under 18, only parameter is age and access to social media
  • Use a mental health evaluation as my pretest
  • observe one group that uses social media platforms one or more times a day
  • Observe the other group that uses social media platforms less than 2-3 times a week
  • post test with another mental health evaluation, same as the first
  • document if there is any difference between the two, between pre and post-test, and compare the pre and post-tests from each group to each other.

Discussion: 

  • How significant were these changes?
    • Did they change for the worse or the better?
  • What would happen if after this study, the two groups were reversed and studied again?
    • Would the group with access improve their mental health?
    • Would the group without decline in mental health?
  • talk about what I found interesting within the research

Flowchart:

References:

Avinash, R. (2019, September). Marginalization and Social Media. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=a483b23b-e003-44eb-a567-009a19333dbd%40redis

Bashir, H., & Bhat, S. A. (2017). Effects of social media on mental health: A review. International Journal of Indian Psychology4(3), 125-131.

Binns, A. (2014). Twitter City and Facebook Village: teenage girls’ personas and experiences influenced by choice architecture in social networking sites. Journal of Media Practice15(2), 71–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/14682753.2014.960763

Diefenbach, S., & Anders, L. (2022). The psychology of likes: Relevance of feedback on Instagram and relationship to self-esteem and social status. Psychology of Popular Media11(2), 196–207. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000360

Dubicka, B., Martin, J., & Firth, J. (2019). Editorial: Screen time, social media and developing brains: a cause for good or corrupting young minds? Child & Adolescent Mental Health24(3), 203–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12346

McIntyre, K. E., & Gibson, R. (2016). Positive News Makes Readers Feel Good: A “Silver-Lining” Approach to Negative News Can Attract Audiences. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=ee2f0e7e-c401-4d33-982c-603710201807%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=117877795&db=ufh.

Mishna, F., Regehr, C., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Daciuk, J., Fearing, G., & Van Wert, M. (2018). Social media, cyber-aggression and student mental health on a university campus. Journal of Mental Health27(3), 222–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1437607

Sidani, J. E., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., & Primack, B. A. (2020). Associations between Comparison on Social Media and Depressive Symptoms: A Study of Young Parents. Journal of Child & Family Studies29(12), 3357–3368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01805-2

Twenge, J. M., Blake, A. B., Haidt, J., & Campbell, W. K. (2020). Commentary: Screens, teens, and psychological well-being: Evidence from three time-use-diary studies. Frontiers in Psychology11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00181

About Shayna (She/Her)

Hey! My name is Shayna Salazar and I am a senior at FHSU studying Digital Media and Journalism. I hope to someday become a well known (and well liked) photojournalist who inspires others much like the ones before me have inspired me. I currently live in Colorado but next month I begin my journey of travelling as a military wife! I met my husband in 6th grade and we have been best friends since then. As for my college life, I attended FHSU on campus for three years and now I am finishing up online. I can't wait for what this class brings!

One thought on “Research Proposal- Social Media vs. Mental Health

  1. Research on special populations needs to be conducted carefully because of the importance of participants’ autonomy in agreeing to the research. When you propose such research, you should discuss special populations and the ethics of doing your research within a special population.
    a. Review: Patten & Newhart, Topics 10 & 11
    c. See how other studies handled recruiting children for research on cartoon violence
    d. You could try the Citi Training: Social and Behavioral Student-Basic/Refresher Course: https://www.fhsu.edu/research/compliance/citi-training

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