Exploratory Study: Social Media Impact on Mental Health Perception in Colombian Gen Z

This study delves into the profound impact of social media on body image perceptions and overall dissatisfaction among young adults at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. In today's digital age, social media pervades the lives of young people, shaping their self-perceptions and influencing their social interactions. This research aims to understand how the constant exposure to curated and often idealized images on social media platforms contributes to the development of unrealistic body standards, fostering feelings of inadequacy and pressure to conform to societal beauty ideals. Employing a quantitative research approach, the study focused on a sample of 200 undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 18 to 30 years. Data collection utilized systematic sampling techniques and involved the administration of questionnaires via Google Forms. The study drew upon Social Comparison Theory to understand how individuals evaluate their own appearance by comparing themselves to the seemingly flawless images and physiques presented on social media platforms. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics. The findings revealed a significant correlation between social media usage and body image dissatisfaction among young adults. Frequent comparisons with idealized images of influencers and celebrities on social media platforms were found to be a major contributor to negative body image perceptions, leading to a range of negative emotional and psychological outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. These findings underscore the urgent need for interventions that address the detrimental effects of social media on young adults' mental health. This may include the development and implementation of comprehensive media literacy programs designed to equip young people with the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate the complexities of the digital world and resist the pressures to conform to unrealistic beauty standards. Furthermore, fostering a more inclusive and diverse representation of body images on social media platforms is crucial to promoting healthier body image perceptions and enhancing the overall well-being of young adults in the digital age. References Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health. Cmaj, 192(6), E136-E141. Aichner, T., Grünfelder, M., Maurer, O., & Jegeni, D. (2021). Twenty-five years of social media: a review of social media applications and definitions from 1994 to 2019. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking, 24(4), 215-222. Ali, R. (2016). 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Youth Social Media Use and Health Outcomes: #diggingdeeper

Background:Today, social media platforms are more popular than ever in Saudi Arabia. Despite the influence of social media on patients’ decisions to undergo cosmetic surgery, it is still unclear how social media platforms affect the private practice of plastic surgeons around Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess Saudi plastic surgeons’ use of social media and its impact on their practices.Methods:The study was based on a self-administered questionnaire that was built on previous literature and distributed to practicing Saudi plastic surgeons. A survey consisting of 12 items was conducted to assess patterns of social media use and its impact on plastic surgery practice.Results:This study included 61 participants. Thirty-four surgeons (55.7%) were using social media platforms in their practice. The use of social media was significantly different among surgeons with different levels of practice in cosmetic surgery (P = 0.004) and reconstructive surgery (P = 0.049). Social media presence was significantly more prevalent among surgeons in private practice (70.6%, P = 0.034). The use of social media in plastic surgery is overall positive for the field (60.7%).Conclusions:Despite plastic surgeons’ differing views on social media, its role within the field of plastic surgery is evidently on the rise. The use of social media is not equal across all practice types. Surgeons practicing in private hospitals and specializing in aesthetic surgery are more likely to view social media favorably and use it in their practice.

BACKGROUNDMental illness is a health challenge faced by adolescents that has grown worse after the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Research on social media and young people’s mental health has recently increased, and numerous studies have examined whether frequent use of social media is linked to issues such as anxiety, stress, depression, eating disorders, insomnia, frustration, feeling alone, and externalizing problems among adolescents. This influence of social media on adolescents’ lives is clear, with many platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube playing an important role in daily interactions and self-expression. Even though social media offers numerous benefits, such as connectivity and information sharing, excessive usage can have detrimental effects on mental health, particularly among adolescents.AIMTo study the impact of social media on the mental wellbeing of adolescents, and the associated potential dangers in India.METHODSA total of 204 adolescents aged 14 years to 23 years were included in the study. This study explored the intricate relationship between social media usage and adolescent mental health in India. The study employs a cross-sectional survey design to capture a snapshot of adolescent mental health and social media usage patterns. Data collection involved administering structured questionnaires and the analysis utilized quantitative methods, including descriptive statistics.RESULTSExcessive use of social media is correlated with increased stress, anxiety, and depression. Adolescents engage in compulsive behaviors such as scrolling in the middle of the night, which negatively impacts their mental and physical health, and leads to significant sleep disruption. Findings from the study aim to provide insights into the current state of adolescent mental health and inform strategies to promote positive wellbeing in the Indian population.CONCLUSIONThe study underscores the need for further research to better understand the complex interplay between social media and adolescent mental health, and need for effective strategies to combat online harassment.

Aims: Social media has revolutionised our lives over the past two to three decades. With the advent of smartphones we see ourselves, family members, colleagues and general public whiling time away on social media platforms. In this context it would be prudent to explore the impact of social media and one’s thoughts on the future.Methods: An online survey was conducted looking into areas such as use of social media influence and opinions on adverse impact on individual use and future generation was looked into. The UK adult working population was studied and 100 individuals responded.Results: 94% respondents feel mental health can be adversely affected by social media; 94% respondents worry about future generation being affected negatively by social media; 50% felt adversely affected by social media; 64% felt social media influenced them. However more that 50% of respondents used social media daily up to 4 hours despite their concerns.Conclusion: Regular use of social media was very common despite one’s worries about adverse impacts on mental health. The population studied was of working adults and though they used social media regularly 94% felt worries about impact of social media on future generation. Overall the use and influence of social media on working adult population sample was high despite their own conviction that this may adversely impact mental health and future generation.An Afterthought; Should adults model less use of social media and phone to lead the way for future generation?

Navigating Social Media in #Ophthalmology

Consumptive behavior is characterized by an individual's tendency to spend money on shopping, both offline and online, without considering the priority scale. In this case, financial literacy has a role to play in avoiding consumer behavior and encouraging wiser use of social media. The objectives of this research: 1) The influence of financial literacy on adolescent consumer behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency. 2) The Influence of Social Media on Teenage Consumer Behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency. 3) The Simultaneous Influence of Financial Literacy and Social Media on Teenage Consumptive Behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency. The research method is quantitative. The sample consisted of 200 teenagers. Data collection techniques used questionnaires. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The research results show: 1) The influence of financial literacy on adolescent consumer behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency with a sig value of 0.000 < 0.05. 2) The influence of social media on adolescent consumer behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency with a sig value of 0.000 < 0.05. 3) Simultaneous Influence of Financial Literacy and Social Media on Adolescent Consumptive Behavior in Kubu Village, Kubu Raya Regency with a sig value of 0.000 < 0.05.

Recent studies suggest that adolescents are spending significant amounts of time on social media. Brands are taking advantage of this fact and actively using social media to reach adolescent consumers, primarily via social media influencers. Adolescents consider the sponsored brand posts by social media influencers to be trustworthy and honest, thus reducing their critical evaluation of the ads. While several researchers have pointed to the critical role that parents play in their adolescents becoming digitally literate and empowered, there is little understanding of parental views and drivers of parental views on social media influencers and means by which they mediate their adolescents’ exposure to social media influencers. Our specific research questions are the following: (a) How does parents’ use of social media relate to their attitudes toward and mediation of social media influencers? (b) What is the role of psychological empowerment in enabling the relationship? Through a survey of approximately 200 mothers of adolescents (between the ages of 11 and 17 years), we examine how parents’ social media usage (active or passive) is related to their views toward social media influencers and mediation of social media influencers. We find that active (vs. passive) use of social media by parents led them to significantly (vs. not significantly) mediate social media influencers’ impact. Passive (vs. active) use of social media led to parents having a significant (vs. not significant) positive view of social media influencers. We explain this direct relationship by the level and kind of psychological empowerment (intrapersonal or interactional) that a parent experiences. Intrapersonal empowerment is related to self-efficacy, perceived competence, and desire for control, whereas interactional empowerment is related to an individual’s engagement in collective action and interactions with others. We find that active use of parental mediation increases intrapersonal empowerment resulting in parental mediation of social media influencers but has no effect on their positive or negative views on social media influencers. Moreover, passive use of social media results in interactional empowerment but has no significant impact on parental mediation but is related to positive views of social media influencers. Implications for regulators, practitioners, and parents are then discussed.

Some research suggests that parents on social media have access to greater social support and health information. However, evidence also connects parental social media use to negative outcomes including increased parental stress, depression, and distraction. Using the uses and gratification theory, this study goes beyond measures of parents’ individual mental health and explores social media use and its association with family well-being. Family health outcomes were predicted to vary with parents’ use and gratifications of social media, with parents who use social media primarily for information and connection scoring higher on family health and parents who used social media for entertainment scoring worse on family health. The sample included 482 heterosexual married or cohabiting partners recruited through a Qualtrics panel. All participants were parents of children ages of 3–13, with mothers and fathers each completing the survey. Findings indicated that fathers’ use of social media for entertainment and connecting with family and friends was associated with better family well-being and health resources (p < 0.01). However, mothers’ use of social media did not have a statistically meaningful relationship with family health variables. There was no evidence that parental social media use was associated with negative family health outcomes. Longitudinal data is needed to determine the temporal relationship between social media use and family health. Public health professionals interested in improving family health may consider how to better reach fathers on social media to increase health resources.

In order to gain a clear understanding of factors that affect destination choice, this paper sought to explore the influence of social media on Omani outbound pleasure travellers' destination choices. The main data collection method involved 35 in-depth interviews with actual Omani outbound travellers. The analysis process led to the development of five themes regarding the influence of social media on their destination choice. These themes have been labelled as the credibility of social media information; the influence of age on the use of social media; the advancement of technology has a huge impact on using social media; the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool and social media and traditional media complement each other. Hence, based on these themes, it could be concluded that the majority of participants interviewed believe that social media has an effect on their destination choice. Finally, the contribution of the current study would result from aiding the tourism and marketing industries to understand the use and influence of social media on destination choice of Omani travellers (as representing Arab and Muslim tourists).

Background: Social media has become an integral part of daily life for adolescents but it is influencing their mental well being significantly. This study investigates social media usage patterns among students of a Government Senior Secondary School in Abuja and their effects on mental health. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 265 students, selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected on age, gender, family structure, social media use, experiences of cyberbullying, and mental health indicators via a structured self-administered questionnaire. Analysis utilized IBM-SPSS version 27, employing descriptive statistics for quantitative variables and Chi-square tests for categorical variables (p ≤ 0.05). Results: Findings revealed that 56.9% of respondents were aged 16-18 years, with 60% female. Most (58.5%) used social media for 1-3 hours daily, while 6.9% exceeded 10 hours. Motivations included social connection and entertainment, with 17.3% reporting experiences of cyberbullying. Mental health assessments indicated that 56.5% displayed poor mental health, though 42.3% retained optimism. Notably, family structure significantly affected digital engagement (p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study underscores the prevalent use of social media among adolescents and its substantial impact on mental health, highlighting factors like cyberbullying. The alarming rate of poor mental health emphasizes the need for targeted interventions, including digital literacy education, enhanced mental health support, and community programs to promote responsible social media use.

Introduction/ Background: Based on WHO data, as many as 10-20% of children and adolescents in the world experience mental health problems. It is estimated that 50% of mental disorders occur by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 18. The most common disorders in children and adolescents are generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Social media users in Indonesia reach 150 million (56%) of the total population. In Indonesia, teenagers are the most popular social media users. The impact received from the influence of social media is the disruption of mental health, such as depression caused by cyberbullying. Objective: This study aims to analyze social media's influence on adolescent mental health—method: Method used in the narrative review with PRISMA 2020. The literature search in this literature review uses two databases: Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. The critical words of the Indonesian Language are the influence of social media and adolescent mental health. English keywords are social media influence and adolescent mental health. Results: The results of a study from 11 journals found that mental health problems owned by adolescents who use social media include emotional mental disorders, abnormal emotional symptoms, abnormal behavior problems, abnormal hyperactivity, and abnormal peer problems. Adolescent mental health problems mainly occur in adolescent girls. Based on the results of all studies, social media influences mental health problems experienced by adolescents. Conclusion: Social media is used by almost everyone in this world today. The majority of social media use is by teenagers. Social media hurts adolescent mental health. Teenagers must use social media wisely.

BackgroundThere is growing awareness of the broader health-related harms of social media; yet, research on social media–related injury mortality and morbidity remains limited. Emerging evidence suggests links between excessive social media use and increased risks of self-harm, cyberbullying-related distress, and dangerous viral challenges, but there has been limited research on the link between time spent on social media and environmental risk-taking, such as risky selfies. However, comprehensive epidemiological studies and policy-driven interventions remain scarce, highlighting the need for further investigation into the public health implications of digital engagement.ObjectiveThis research aimed to examine the relationship among self-reported time spent on social media, influencer status, and risk-taking behaviors among Australians, considering implications for injury prevention.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of Australian social media users (N=509) was conducted using stratified quotas to approximate national distributions by age, sex, and geographical location. Participants reported their average daily time spent on social media, whether they identified as a social media influencer, and whether they had ever engaged in risk-taking behavior to create social media content. Associations between categorical variables (eg, influencer status and risk-taking) were examined using Pearson chi-square tests and supplemented with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. Independent samples 2-tailed t tests were used to compare mean time spent on social media between risk-takers and non–risk-takers.ResultsAmong participants, 48 (9.4%) self-reported engaging in risk-taking behavior in the outdoors. Influencers were significantly more likely to report risk-taking (28/58, 48.3%) compared to noninfluencers (20/451, 4.4%; χ²1=110.57, P<.001). Risk-takers (n=48) also spent significantly more time on social media (mean=2.05, SD 1.04) compared to non-risk-takers (n=461; mean 1.37, SD 1.04; t57.22=4.31, P<.001). In multivariate analyses, influencers (OR 20.11), males (OR 2.00), and younger age groups (eg, OR 33.06 for 18‐24 vs 55‐64 years) had significantly higher odds of reporting risk-taking.ConclusionsOutdoor risk-taking for content creation is associated with influencer status and greater time spent on social media. These findings suggest that policy makers should prioritize regulations addressing risky social media behaviors and hold platforms accountable for promoting harmful content. Social media platforms should implement real-time alerts, pop-up warnings, and geolocated safety information to discourage risky behaviors. Public health practitioners should engage influencers to promote safer content norms and develop targeted injury prevention strategies.

Adolescents' widespread use of social media has become a serious public health issue, especially considering its effects on substance abuse and mental health. The aim of this review is to examine the complex relationship between the use of social media, mental health issues, and the rise in substance abuse among teenagers. An overview of social media engagement trends is given at the start, emphasising that teenagers are among the most frequent users and that platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are essential to their social lives. According to recent studies, high social media use has been linked to a rise in mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The prevalent behaviours of social comparison, cyberbullying, and validation-seeking in online interactions exacerbate mental health challenges. The review also explored the patterns of substance abuse among adolescents, with particular attention to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal narcotics. Peer pressure, family dynamics, early substance exposure, and other factors have been identified as contributing factors to substance misuse. A critical analysis is conducted on the function that social media plays in normalising substance use, since media portrayals of substance use can glamourise these behaviours and make them seem socially acceptable to impressionable teens. The ways in which peer pressure and heightened stress are two of the methods through which social media impact substance abuse are examined, offering a thorough grasp of the difficulties that young people today face. The urgent need for multifaceted interventions that address social media use and mental health education is emphasised in the review's conclusion. Along with programs to promote digital literacy and ethical social media usage, recommendations are made for parents, schools, and policymakers to reduce the risks associated with social media use. The results highlight the need for additional investigation into the complex interactions among social media, mental health, and substance addiction and support cooperative endeavours aimed at safeguarding and enabling young people in the digital age.

The changes in the effects of social media use of Cypriots due to COVID-19 pandemic