For Better or Worse: Relationship Between Facebook use, Wellbeing and Recovery from Mental Illness

Abstract

Online social networking is ubiquitous, but research regarding its impact upon mental wellbeing among non-clinical samples is contradictory. Research among people with a mental illness is almost non-existent, although there is reason to believe use and outcomes may differ among a clinical population. Using sites such as Facebook may be beneficial for individuals with mental illness if this use offers benefits similar to those experienced as a result of traditional (offline) social connection. However, use may be unhelpful or even detrimental if such benefits are anticipated but not received. The present study examines the relationship between Facebook use and multiple wellbeing and recovery measures for community mental health service clients. In so doing, it seeks to provide guidance for community mental health organisations and their clients regarding the costs and benefits of Facebook use and, by extension, their clients’ online social networking behaviours and needs. Clients from a large national community mental health service (N = 219) completed self-report measures of their online social networking use, connection to online social networks, wellbeing and progress toward recovery at three four-monthly intervals. A sub-sample (n = 26) also provided access to their publicly visible Facebook activity across the same period. It was predicted that self-reported use of online social networking and perceived connection to online social networks would be positively associated with recovery and wellbeing over time. It was further predicted that behavioural Facebook use data that evidenced social connection and positive emotional expression would be positively associated with recovery and wellbeing over time. By contrast, it was predicted that behavioural Facebook use data that evidenced attention seeking would be negatively associated with recovery and wellbeing over time. While self-reported Facebook use was positively correlated with recovery and wellbeing measures at Time 1, no support was found for predictive associations between self-reported Facebook use and these outcomes over time. Behavioural Facebook data was correlated with recovery and wellbeing within time. Furthermore, multilevel modeling analyses revealed some predictive associations between Facebook use, recovery and optimism over time, though these were opposite to the predicted direction. Specifically, greater use predicted poorer recovery and decreased optimism across all types of Facebook activity measured for this sample. Implications of these results, along with sample and methodological limitations of the project are discussed. The results and implications, while tentative, potentially provide valuable information for community mental health organisations regarding their own and their clients’ use of Facebook. The limitations and future directions discussed may be informative for researchers planning projects with community mental health care organisations.