Navigating Mental Health in the New Social Media Age: The Effects of Consuming Online Mental Health Information on Adolescents Well-being

The growing influence of new social media platforms centered around Online Short Videos (OSVs) in everyday life has raised important questions about its effects of usage durations on well-being of young adults. This transition towards new social media provides an abundance of information, including mental health-related content, whose effects on well-being are not yet fully understood. The current study was prompted by the urgent needs to understand these effects, including a focus on examining whether young adults’ varying levels of anxiety and depression would moderate these relationships. Following a person-specific approach, a sample of N=64 participants was included in a three-week experience sampling method (ESM) study to examine their new social media usage, OSVs consumption, exposure to anxiety/depression-related content, as well as their momentary well-being. Contrary to expectations, the study did not yield statistically significant results. These results underline the complexity of the relationship between new social media use, OSV consumption, anxiety/depression-related content exposure, and well-being, highlighting the need for further comprehensive research in this field.