A content analysis of depression-related discourses on Sina Weibo: attribution, efficacy, and information sources

Depression is a mood disorder that may lead to severe outcomes including mental breakdown, self-injury, and suicide. Potential causes of depression include genetic, sociocultural, and individual-level factors. However, public understandings of depression guided by a complex interplay of media and other societal discourses might not be congruent with the scientific knowledge. Misunderstandings of depression can lead to under-treatment and stigmatization of depression. Against this backdrop, this study aims to achieve a holistic understanding of the patterns and dynamics in discourses about depression from various information sources in China by looking at related posts on social media.

A content analysis was conducted with 902 posts about depression randomly selected within a three-year period (2014 to 2016) on the mainstream social media platform in China, Sina Weibo. Posts were analyzed with a focus on attributions of and solutions to depression, attitudes towards depression, and efficacy indicated by the posts across various information sources.

Results suggested that depression was most often attributed to individual-level factors. Across all the sources, individual-level attributions were often adopted by state-owned media whereas health and academic experts and organizations most often mentioned biological causes of depression. Citizen journalists and unofficial social groups tended to make societal-level attributions. Overall, traditional media posts suggested the lowest efficacy in coping with depression and the most severe negative outcomes as compared with other sources.

The dominance of individual-level attributions and solutions regarding depression on Chinese social media on one hand manifests the public's limited understanding of depression and on the other hand, may further constrain adoption of scientific explanations about depression and exacerbate stigmatization towards depressed individuals. Mass media's posts centered on description of severe outcomes of depression without suggestions of solutions' effectiveness, which may induce more anxiety among depressed individuals. Campaigns promoting comprehensive understandings about depression and popular works translating scientific findings on depression to the public are called for.