Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
J Clin Psychol. 2024 May;80(5):1050-1064. doi: 10.1002/jclp.23647. Epub 2024 Jan 29.
One barrier to treatment seeking, uptake, and engagement is the belief that nothing can be done to reduce symptoms. Given the widespread use of social media to disseminate information about important issues, including psychological health, we sought to understand how the influence of social media communication regarding mental health impacts viewers' beliefs about psychopathology recovery.
Undergraduate participants from a large Midwestern university (N = 322) were randomized to view a series of Tweets characterizing psychopathology from a fixed mindset perspective, a growth mindset perspective, or, in the control condition, Tweets unrelated to psychopathology. Afterward, they completed a series of questionnaires designed to assess beliefs about recovery from depression and anxiety.
Participants in the growth mindset condition endorsed less pessimistic beliefs about their ability (i.e., self-efficacy) to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and they believed these symptoms to be less stable and innate relative to those in the fixed mindset condition.
Social media communication that characterizes psychopathology from a growth mindset perspective may be a viable intervention for improving beliefs around mental health self-efficacy and the malleable nature of mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety. Clinicians may be able to use social media platforms to promote functional beliefs around mental illness.
寻求治疗、接受治疗和参与治疗的一个障碍是认为没有什么可以减轻症状。鉴于社交媒体广泛用于传播有关重要问题的信息，包括心理健康，我们试图了解有关心理健康的社交媒体沟通如何影响观众对精神病理学康复的信念。
从一所中西部大型大学的本科生中随机抽取参与者（N=322），他们观看了一系列从固定思维模式或成长思维模式的角度描述精神病理学的推文，或在对照组中观看与精神病理学无关的推文。之后，他们完成了一系列旨在评估对抑郁和焦虑康复的信念的问卷。
成长思维模式组的参与者对自己缓解抑郁和焦虑症状的能力（即自我效能感）持较不悲观的信念，并且他们认为这些症状相对于固定思维模式组的症状更不稳定且非固有。
从成长思维模式的角度描述精神病理学的社交媒体沟通可能是改善心理健康自我效能感和精神疾病可塑性信念的可行干预措施，特别是抑郁和焦虑。临床医生可能能够利用社交媒体平台来促进对精神疾病的功能性信念。
