SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK WORKS?!
🧠 Psych - 170/200
You know what,
It’s actually been tested in a study!
Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety.
What is it?
The study aimed to understand the effects of a 1-week break from social media (SM) (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok) on well-being, depression, and anxiety compared with using SM as usual.
They randomly allocated 154 participants to either stop using social media for 1 week or continue as usual.
At a 1-week follow-up, significant between-group differences in well-being (mean difference [MD] 4.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.0–6.8), depression (MD −2.2, 95% CI −3.3 to −1.1), and anxiety (MD −1.7, 95% CI −2.8 to −0.6) in favor of the intervention group were observed, after controlling for baseline scores, age, and gender.
The key hypotheses for this study were as follows:
People randomised to come off social media for 1 week will experience larger improvements in well-being, depression, and anxiety post-intervention compared with people using social media as usual.
Improvements in well-being, depression, and anxiety post-intervention compared with people using social media, as usual, will be moderated by baseline symptoms.
Changes in time spent on social media will mediate the effect of social media cessation on changes in well-being, anxiety, and depression.
Reader, help me to quit my full time job. If you like these emails, support by getting your copy of The Psych Handbook :)
What do I need to know?
The present study shows that asking people to stop using SM for 1 week leads to significant improvements in well-being, depression, and anxiety.
Future research should extend this to clinical populations and examine effects over the longer term. [1]
References & Studies: -
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324
Youtube Videos, Instagram Reels, NFTs, Podcast, all at a single place - Psych.Email