When the semester started, my original research idea was to research how the recent rise in technology and the widespread adoption of social media may have an impact on individual’s mental health. While this is still the focus of my research proposal, I have refined the topic to looking at how social media use may impact the mental health of users based upon different age demographics. By refining my research idea to looking at the relationship between the potential consequences of social media and the age of the social media user, I will try to determine if social media could potentially have a more significant impact on younger users compared to older users.
Search One:
Database:
Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (H.W. Wilson)
Search Criteria:
- social media “AND” mental health
- Publication date: 2011-2021
- Peer reviewed
Results: 9
Analysis:
This search did not end up being extremely helpful and only returned 9 total research based on the search criteria I set. That being said, one of the results was an academic journal with the title “Using Social Media for Mental Health Surveillance: A Review”. While this doesn’t exactly line up with identifying negative impacts on mental health due to social media use, it could be useful to take a look at a source that is using social media as a tool to survey individual’s post in an effort to identify certain mental health conditions. This doesn’t look at how the cause of said conditions may be caused by social media, but instead using it as a helpful tool to try and identify them before it’s too late.
Search Two:
Database:
Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (H.W. Wilson)
Search Criteria:
- technology “AND” mental health
- Publication date: 2011-2021
- Peer reviewed
Results: 138
Analysis:
This search was similar to the first search I conducted on this database and provided more content relating to technology being a good tool for identifying potential mental health conditions and even treating them. One academic journal I found with this search was titled “Associating Internet Usage with Depressive Behavior Among College Students.” and I think this would be a good article to take a look at to see at how college aged kids are being impacted by internet and social media usage.
Search Three:
Database:
Gale’s Psychology Collection
Search Criteria:
- social media “AND” mental health
- Publication date: After 2010
- Peer reviewed
Results: 137
Analysis:
This search was actually very helpful and gave multiple results of academic journals looking at how social media, screen time, and technology use impact adolescents from different parts of the world. Not only could I use this for making a comparison of the impacts based on age difference, but it also allows me to see how certain areas of the world may be affected differently.
Search Four:
Database:
Gale’s Psychology Collection
Search Criteria:
- technology “AND” mental health
- Publication date: After 2010
- Peer reviewed
Results: 310
Analysis:
This search was just a small change from the previous search I did, but it also proved to be extremely useful. It mainly returned results for the impact of technology on adolescents, but returned over two times the results from the previous one leading to broader scope of research with results like the impact of technology on attention span and school performance.
Search Five:
Database:
Gale’s Psychology Collection
Search Criteria:
- technology “AND” young adults
- Publication date: After 2010
- Peer reviewed
Results: 99
Analysis:
Since the previous two searches from this database mostly returned content on adolescents, I decided to try and refine my search to the young adult age range. It did not give back as many results as the other searches, but still returned around 100 results on technology and social media’s impact on young adults. After these searches, I have quite a few potential articles that I could use for my research proposal that provides a diverse look into different age groups and even different consequences that technology can have on them.
Saturation?
Overall, I do not think my searches have reached complete saturation, but is getting pretty close. My first few searches only returned a few potential new articles I could use and this is how most of my searches have been recently after conducting many searches. However, this was the first time I used Gale’s Psychology Collection and this database gave me multiple new articles that I believe could be very helpful for my research proposal. So while my searches are not completely saturated, it is nearing the point of saturation and has started returning articles that I have already seen or skimmed and new content is becoming harder to find. At this point, I do not believe I need to conduct further searches. With the searches I have already conducted, I feel that I have enough different content to sift through that will work best for my research proposal.
Annotated Bibliography:
George, M. J., Russell, M. A., Piontak, J. R., & Odgers, C. L. (2018). Concurrent and subsequent associations between daily digital technology use and high‐risk adolescents’ mental health symptoms. Child Development, 89(1), 78–88. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/10.1111/cdev.12819
I think this article would be good for my research because it looks at the correlation between daily technology use and how it can impact mental health symptoms in high-risk individuals in adolescence. I think that this would be beneficial because adolescence is an important time in personal development and this group is one of the age ranges that is most drawn to constant technology use. This constant technology use, as well as the potential negative impacts that it could have on the individuals, could develop long term mental health problems that aren’t anticipated or recognized until it is too late. Looking at how it can impact younger individuals can help my research move into older age groups and seeing if there is a distinct difference in the impact between younger and older users of technology and social media.
Munderia, R., & Singh, R. (2018). Mobile phone dependence and psychological well-being among young adults. Indian Journal of Community Psychology, 14(2), 321+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A567426513/PPPC?u=klnb_fhsuniv&sid=bookmark-PPPC&xid=10fcc139
This report does a very good job at acknowledging the positive benefits that technology brings, but then looks at how dependence and overuse of technology can lead to damaging consequences such as sleep troubles and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. This specific report looks at the impact on young adults and how the widespread popularity of technological use has evolved technology from a “technological object” to a “key social object.” With this evolution into a social object rather than just being a technological tool, it has become important to our lives and has a more significant impact on everyday life and mental well being.
Katikalapudi, R., Chellappan, S., Montgomery, F., Wunsch, D., & Lutzen, K. (2012). Associating Internet Usage with Depressive Behavior Among College Students. IEEE Technology & Society Magazine, 31(4), 73–80. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/10.1109/MTS.2012.2225462
Modern college students use technology for all aspects of their life. From school, work, and socially, college students are almost always connected. Even though technology is seen as helpful and entertaining, it can also be problematic. The CDC reported in 2009 that 26% of US students had felt depressed for two or more weeks. While this is an old statistic and an article from 2012, this is a good place to start due to being around the time of the initial booming popularity of technological integration into every day life. While technology use may not be the sole reason for the decline in mental health in some young adults, it has definitely played a role. This article looks into how this increased technology usage in college students can also be associated with an increase in depressive behavior amongst those in the age range.
Paulich, Katie N., et al. “Screen time and early adolescent mental health, academic, and social outcomes in 9- and 10- year old children: Utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development â (ABCD) Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 9, 8 Sept. 2021, p. e0256591. Gale OneFile: Psychology, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A674722838/PPPC?u=klnb_fhsuniv&sid=bookmark-PPPC&xid=31f9db95. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.
This study looks at screen time in 9-10 year old children and the broad range of negative consequences of unhealthy screen time such as mental health, academic, and social problems. One interesting point this study touches on is that it may not be the amount of screen time that matters, rather it’s important how the child is using their screen time. Not only does this study touch on mental health, but it also looks into screen time and the correlation with attention problems in children such as ADHD. This report will be beneficial to my research proposal due to the wide range of potential negative consequences of screen time in children and looking into what is the exact cause of these consequences rather than just blaming technology use as a whole.
Adoijan, Michael, and Rosemary Ricciardelli. “Smartphone and social media addiction: Exploring the perceptions and experiences of Canadian teenagers.” Canadian Review of Sociology, vol. 58, no. 1, Feb. 2021, pp. 45+. Gale OneFile: Psychology, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A668181153/PPPC?u=klnb_fhsuniv&sid=bookmark-PPPC&xid=30f9a7fb. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.
This article brings a new take on technology addiction that acknowledges the consequences of technological addiction without solely blaming technology for the addiction. This research was conducted on Canadian teenagers and during focus groups with the teens, they found that they often embraced the label of being addicted to technology. The authors point out that social peer groups often encourage addictive behaviors along with the fear of missing out or being left behind by their peers. This stance is saying that rather than the technology being addictive on it’s own, the social aspect and pressure to fit in and not missing out drives the addiction and leads to technology related social anxieties. By focusing on the psychological standpoint and trying to find the root cause for this addiction and consequences, it allows the reader to see the bigger picture of what drives the unhealthy relationship some individuals have with technology.