Can Facebook Reduce Perceived Anxiety Among College Students? Randomized Controlled Exercise Trial Using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies suggest social media may be an attractive strategy to promote mental health and wellness. There remains a need to examine the utility for individually tailored wellness messages posted to social media sites such as Facebook to facilitate positive psychological outcomes.ObjectiveOur aim was to extend the growing body of evidence supporting the potential for social media to enhance mental health. We evaluated the influence of an 8-week social media intervention on anxiety in college students and examined the impact of dynamic (active) versus static (passive) Facebook content on physical activity behaviors.MethodsParticipants in the static group (n=21) accessed a Facebook page featuring 96 statuses. Statuses were intended to engage cognitive processes followed by behavioral processes of change per the transtheoretical model of behavior change. Content posted on the static Facebook page was identical to the dynamic page; however, the static group viewed all 96 statuses on the first day of the study, while the dynamic group received only 1 to 2 of these status updates per day throughout the intervention. Anxiety was measured using the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS). Time spent engaging in physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).ResultsThe OASIS change score for the dynamic Facebook group was statistically significant (P=.003), whereas the change score for the static group was not (P=.48). A statistically significant group-by-time interaction was observed (P=.03). The total IPAQ group-by-time interaction was not statistically significant (P=.06).ConclusionsWe observed a decrease in anxiety and increase in total physical activity for the dynamic group only. Dynamic social networking sites, featuring regularly updated content, may be more advantageous than websites that retain static content over time.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03363737; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03363737 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6vXzNbOWJ)

Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being Among College Students: Systematic Review

“…Another one of the included studies [129] was a qualitative study of the usability and acceptability of another included study [101]. The vast majority of the included studies (n=81 [41-44,47-52,54-56,58-111,113,114,116-120,122,123,125-129]) took place at universities, with far fewer taking place at 4-year colleges (n=2 [45,46]), at health professional schools (eg, medical school and nursing school; n=5 [57,115,121,124,130]), and at community colleges (n=1 [53]). Approximately half of the studies (n=44 [42-48,50,53,55,56,58-61,63,65,66,72,73, 76-78,81,87-90,93,95,98,99,101-104,106,108,110,116-118, 122,125]) targeted undergraduate students exclusively.…”

“…Approximately half of the studies (n=44 [42-48,50,53,55,56,58-61,63,65,66,72,73, 76-78,81,87-90,93,95,98,99,101-104,106,108,110,116-118, 122,125]) targeted undergraduate students exclusively. Most studies included were focused on either universal prevention programs (n=36 [43,48,53,54,63-67,70-73,75-78,90,91, 94,95,97,99,100,102,106-108,110-112,114,118,119,125,126]), or on treatment intervention programs (n=22 [41,49,50,52, 58,69,74,79,80,83-86,88,89,92,98,113,117,120,122,127]).…”

“…The majority of interventions studied offered some level of support or guidance to users—many of these interventions featured coaching from a human (n=33 [41,49-51,58 ,62-66,69,71,73,74,76,79,82-88,94,101,104,105,107,116,122,123,128,129]), whereas others featured automated support (n=18 [44,48, 53,57,59,67,70,77,91,98-101,106,108,112,113,115]), such as prescripted emails. Several studies examined self-guided interventions (n=33 [42,43,45,46,52,54-56,60,61,68,72,75,78, 80,81,89,90,92,93,95,97,102,103,109-111,114,118,119,121,124,125]) in which the participants only had contact with the study staff for research assessments; few studies focused on technology as an adjunct to therapy (n=5 [47,86,100,120,126]), 2 studies provided peer support [96,117], and 1 study had an unclear presence of support (n=1 [127]).…”

“…As seen in Multimedia Appendix 3, the majority of studies reported that the digital mental health intervention(s) of interest were either effective (eg, improvements were observed in all main outcomes; n=42 [41,42,45,47-51,54,56,57,59,60,62,63, 68,71,78,79,84-89,92,93,100,101,103,112,113,115,120,122,123,125, 127,128,131]) or partially effective (eg, improvements were observed in some main outcomes; n=30 [43,44,52,53,58,61, 65,67,69,70,72-77,80-82,90,91,94-97,99,102,108, 111,124]) in producing beneficial changes in the main psychological outcome variables. A minority of studies reported on interventions that were not effective (n=10 [46,55,64,66,98,114,117]) or did not report on psychological outcomes and focused on program usage or usability (n=6 [116,118,119,121,126,129]).…”

<p>Measuring improvement in health-status with the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire (Ox-PAQ)</p>

“…It is acknowledged that the sample sizes for the reported analyses are small, although it is noteworthy that many similar studies include small numbers who reflect sensitivity to change in their analyses 15–17. Additional research with larger samples will provide more precise MIDs and effect sizes for the Ox-PAQ.…”