Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, affecting all races and ethnicities, and with symptoms typically beginning in adolescence and early adulthood. Still, little is known about the language markers of mental health for materials written in Spanish. This study collected pro-anorexia (pro-ana) public Tumblr blog posts written in Spanish and analyzed their content using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Pro-ana-specific words, pronoun use, and psychological linguistic properties were analyzed, and results indicated that reasons for anorexia was the most frequently occurring category within pro-ana posts. Words in this category were associated with intense and negative emotions commonly found in trauma narratives in the dominant language (Spanish). Users’ pronoun use suggested an increased focus on people and objects, which has been linked to decreased likelihood of recovery. The psychological properties of the posts had a negative emotional tone and were marked by significant use of ingestion and health words, signaling the symptoms of anorexia. This research points to benefits in assessing bilingual clients for anorexia behaviors, symptoms, and online-posting behaviors, while also revealing the need for improved evidence-based treatment for trauma in bilingual individuals, as well as the need for Spanish and code-switching blog norms to inform and advance future research.
Rates of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), especially high among adolescents, are associated with comorbid disorders including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders. Hispanic adolescents engage in NSSI at rates similar to or higher than their Caucasian counterparts, but little research exists on Spanish-language markers of mental health. This study, harnessing data from the social media platform Tumblr, collected pro-NSSI public blog posts written in Spanish and analyzed their content with Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. Pro-NSSI linguistic properties, psychological linguistic properties, and signature words were analyzed, and results revealed that, of pro-NSSI terms, reasons for NSSI was the most frequently used category in posts. This result aligns with the literature because words associated with negative emotions are commonly presented in the dominant language within trauma narratives. Evaluation of linguistic properties indicated that users could be code-switching to avoid encountering overwhelming emotions, a practice common among bilingual individuals. The psychological properties of these blog posts had an emphatically negative emotional tone when written in Spanish and a more concrete and less emotionally charged tone when users switched to English. This research suggests benefits to assessing bilingual clients for pro-NSSI and online-posting behaviors, while underscoring both the need for improved evidence-based practices for treating trauma in bilingual clients and, broadly speaking, the importance of Spanish and code-switching norms for blogs and social media platforms.
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