Feeling Bad On Facebook: Depression

Depression is a mental condition that occasionally goes undiagnosed among young people with active social presence. ‘Feeling bad on Facebook: Depression disclosures by college students on a social networking site’ studied depressive tendencies based on information unconsciously shared on Facebook. The rationale was to determine that undiagnosed depression is prevalent, yet social networking platforms can help experts develop patterned behaviors and attitudes that link college students with the condition.

Study Participants

            The study focused on junior undergraduates and sophomores with public Facebook profiles. All the participants were above 18 years from the University of Wisconsin, and they actively used Facebook in the past month. Moreno et al. (2011) focused on college graduates from 2010 to 2011 and their high counterparts who graduated between 2006 and 2007. The researchers listed 500 Facebook profiles and intended on evaluating 200 of them. Demographic factors that guided the study included gender, ‘relationship status,’ age, and graduation year (Moreno et al., 2011). The study never disclosed in-depth information about the ethnicities of the participants, although 43.5% of the evaluated individual were females of mean age of 20 years (Moreno et al., 2011). Through the detailed study, it became apparent that several college students exhibit symptoms of depression or Major Depressive Disorder unknowingly.

Questions the Researchers Wanted to Answer

            The study wanted to establish whether college students used Facebook to communicate depressive symptoms. According to Moreno et al. (2011), disclosures enabled online communities to intervene when friends exhibited depressive symptoms. The most significant concern was that few college students knew that they were depressed unless a neutral party read their status updates. Moreno et al. (2011) mentioned that mental health was essential, yet intervention was only possible through disclosures. Students rarely share their mental health statuses with third parties unless they build trust with them. The researchers could only convince the college students to seek help based on what they shared on the Social Networking Site. Thus, they thoroughly investigated profiles that had patterns similar to depression based on their knowledge of the DSM diagnostic standards. Moreno et al. (2011) hypothesized that most students feared reporting depression symptoms on public platforms because they feared stigma. The researchers believed that the hypothesis would make them understand the relationship between the exhibited depressive symptoms and the possibility that a particular demographic suffered from the condition.

Methods

            Moreno et al. (2011) assessed the “status updates” on a sample of freshmen and junior college students’ accessible Facebook pages.  The researchers estimated the incidence of shown depressive disorder and applied DSM eligibility requirements to a year’s worth of status updates from every profile. Based on the analysis of the methods section, it is evident that the researchers relied on observation and binomial regression analysis to conclude findings (Moreno et al., 2011). The process of coding verbatim texts helped align the status with the suspected incidents.

Results

            The results confirm that 43.5% of the 200 profiles visited belonged to females. Another 25% of the population had depressive characteristics and 2.5% experienced Major Depressive Episodes. Through status updates, most disclosed their status to friends through online responses. Out of the 72% of participants who disclosed their relationship statuses, 42% were in romantic relationships (Moreno et al., 2011). The profiles visited belonged to a college student who averaged 20 years old. The result answered the research questions by confirming that most college students are unaware of their depressive states, although online profiles and status updates can reveal whether they suffer from the condition or experience a Major Depressive Disorder. Another observation was that the results section established that people share their depressive feelings with close relations. For that reason, one can easily develop the profile of a depressed college student through status updates or responses from online friends.

            The limitations of the study primarily involved demographic issues. For instance, Moreno et al. (2011) mentioned that they covered various demographic elements, but they never detailed critical aspects of ethnicity and family, which affect how groups respond to mental health. Family history can determine disclosure at the family level and reduce overreliance on online platforms for such communications. Moreno et al. (2011) must address the research gap because if it leaves out some demographic factors, the research will only influence the community at the University of Wisconsin, yet the data should have a global impact. In the future, the inclusion criteria should be broad to cover various populations. The objective will be to remain culturally sensitive and cover wider populations to influence change across various populations.

Personal Opinion

            In hindsight, the research was interesting and informative. I learned that online profiles could influence psychiatry and psychology. Experts in both fields should not limit their studies to physical experiments and patients. Instead, they should analyze the online presence of various study subjects and patients to determine how well they respond to mental health problems. Subsequently, I would like to know if Moreno et al. (2011) would recommend medical interventions for the population that tested positive for depression and Major Depressive Disorder. I would like them to generate solutions for people with private social media profiles suffering from depression.  

References

Moreno, M. A., Jelenchick, L. A., Egan, K. G., Cox, E., Young, H., Gannon, K. E., & Becker, T. (2011). Feeling bad on Facebook: Depression disclosures by college students on a social networking site. Depression and anxiety, 28(6), 447-455. DOI: 10.1002/da.20805

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