Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
Japan Support Center for Suicide Countermeasures, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 3;16(3):e0246090. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246090. eCollection 2021.
Both negative and positive associations between social networking service (SNS) usage and mental health have been suggested by previous studies; however, their differences by type of SNS and age remain unclear. We addressed this issue based on the frequency of traditional communication such as face-to-face and non-face-to-face communication (e.g., phone, email, and letters).
In total, 8,576 individuals participated, including 2,543 aged 18-39, 3,048 aged 40-64, and 2,985 aged over 65 years. They were asked to indicate their frequency of SNS usage, both for posting and checking, of LINE (a popular message application in Japan), Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with frequent usage defined as posting or checking more than a few times a week. To determine mental health status, WHO-5 (i.e., well-being), K6 (i.e., distress symptoms), and feelings of loneliness were assessed. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were adjusted for the frequency of traditional communication. To avoid type 1 error, a Bonferroni correction of p ≤ 0.002 was applied in the regression models (p = 0.05/18, a number of regression models).
The most frequently used SNS across the three age groups was LINE; frequent usage (both posting and checking) among older adults was independently associated with better well-being. Frequent posting on Facebook was associated with better well-being in middle-aged adults. Young adults who frequently checked on Instagram showed a tendency toward better well-being and lower distress symptoms. On the contrary, frequent usage of Twitter was associated with distress symptoms or feelings of loneliness across all three age groups.
We found generational and SNS-type-dependent negative and positive associations between SNS use and mental health, indicating the possible influences of SNS use and the importance of non-SNS communication.
之前的研究表明，社交网络服务（SNS）的使用与心理健康之间存在负面和正面的关联；然而，它们在 SNS 类型和年龄方面的差异尚不清楚。我们根据传统沟通（如面对面和非面对面沟通（例如，电话、电子邮件和信件））的频率来解决这个问题。
共有 8576 人参与，包括 18-39 岁的 2543 人、40-64 岁的 3048 人和 65 岁以上的 2985 人。他们被要求指出他们使用 LINE（日本流行的消息应用程序）、Facebook、Twitter 和 Instagram 的发布和查看频率，频繁使用被定义为每周发布或查看几次以上。为了确定心理健康状况，评估了 WHO-5（即幸福感）、K6（即困扰症状）和孤独感。对传统沟通频率进行了多元和逻辑回归分析。为了避免第一类错误，在回归模型中应用了 Bonferroni 校正（p≤0.002，回归模型数为 18，p=0.05/18）。
三个年龄组中最常用的 SNS 是 LINE；老年人的频繁使用（发布和查看）与更好的幸福感独立相关。中年成年人在 Facebook 上频繁发布与更好的幸福感相关。经常在 Instagram 上查看的年轻人表现出更好的幸福感和更低的困扰症状的趋势。相反，所有三个年龄组的 Twitter 频繁使用都与困扰症状或孤独感相关。
我们发现 SNS 使用与心理健康之间存在代际和 SNS 类型依赖性的负面和正面关联，这表明 SNS 使用的可能影响和非 SNS 沟通的重要性。
