Examining the Relationship Between the Use of a Mobile Peer-Support App and Self-Injury Outcomes: Longitudinal Mixed...

Area of Science:

• Digital mental health
• Computational social science
• Clinical psychology

Background:

• Online communities and mobile apps are crucial for individuals seeking support for self-injury.
• Limited empirical research exists on the link between participation in these digital spaces and self-injury behaviors.
• Understanding these online dynamics is vital for developing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between user engagement and linguistic patterns on a mobile peer support app.
• To correlate app usage data with self-injury outcomes over time.
• To identify specific online behaviors associated with increased or decreased self-harm risks.

Main Methods:

• Collected natural use data and survey responses from 268 mobile peer support app users over four months.
• Utilized an internal classifier to identify users posting self-injury content.
• Employed multilevel logistic and linear regressions to analyze the association between app data and self-injury outcomes.

Main Results:

• Increased app engagement correlated with a lower likelihood of self-injury thoughts and reduced intentions to self-injure.
• Posting triggering content was linked to a higher likelihood of self-harm behaviors and thoughts.
• Viewing triggering content was associated with both increased intention to self-injure and a greater ability to resist self-harm.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to connect real-time app log data with self-injury outcomes assessed via surveys.
• Provides empirical evidence supporting the connection between online forum participation and self-injury.
• Highlights potential mechanisms, such as exposure to triggering content, influencing self-injury behaviors within digital support communities.