Social media and its relationship with mood, self-esteem and paranoia in psychosis

An evidence-base is emerging indicating detrimental and beneficial effects of social media. Little is known about the impact of social media use on people who experience psychosis.

Forty-four participants with and without psychosis completed 1084 assessments of social media use, perceived social rank, mood, self-esteem and paranoia over a 6-day period using an experience sampling method (ESM).

Social media use predicted low mood, but did not predict self-esteem and paranoia. Posting about feelings and venting on social media predicted low mood and self-esteem and high paranoia, whilst posting about daily activities predicted increases in positive affect and self-esteem and viewing social media newsfeeds predicted reductions in negative affect and paranoia. Perceptions of low social rank when using social media predicted low mood and self-esteem and high paranoia. The impact of social media use did not differ between participants with and without psychosis; although, experiencing psychosis moderated the relationship between venting and negative affect. Social media use frequency was lower in people with psychosis.

Findings show the potential detrimental impact of social media use for people with and without psychosis. Despite few between-group differences, overall negative psychological consequences highlight the need to consider use in clinical practice.