Practice change: Social Media Screening Questionnaire to identify high-risk adult psychiatric patients

Include social media screening during initial psychiatric examination with new adult patients to increase psychiatric providers' awareness of the rate and impact of social media use in their patients.

Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of psychiatric provider 5-question social media screening during the initial evaluation.

Screening for social medial usage (N = 136) improved providers' a wareness of the rate and impact of social media use on patients' distress levels. The process of screening influenced a conversation between provider and patient about healthy social media use.

The inclusion of social media screening during initial psychiatric evaluation may aid in the assessment of risk factors for psychological distress.