Differing Relationships Between Instagram and Twitter on Suicidal Thinking: The Importance of Interpersonal Factors

Abstract

Suicide is a major public health problem. For young adults in the United States, the rate of death by suicide has increased substantially. The evidence for the effects of social media on mental health are contradictory. However, there is limited research investigating effects of social media usage on suicide ideation. Given the interpersonal nature of social media (SM), we examined the relationship between Instagram, Twitter, and suicidal ideation in the context of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide in 449 young adults. We found a significant indirect effect of Instagram use on lower suicide ideation through lower perceived burdensomeness. Our results are inconsistent with the literature demonstrating negative mental health effects associated with SM usage. Rather, our results indicate that some SM platforms may be associated with positive mental health outcomes. Our results also demonstrate that different SM platforms may result in differing effects on mental health and interpersonal factors specifically. Future research should examine the content and activities that users engage in while using SM to provide a deeper understanding of these relationships.