Maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative: Social media data to study youth mental health with informed consent

Daniel Leightley; Amanda Bye; Ben Carter; Kylee Trevillion; Stella Branthonne-Foster; Maria Liakata; Anthony Wood; Dennis Ougrin; Amy Orben; Tamsin Ford; Rina Dutta

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1096253

Maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative: Social media data to study youth mental health with informed consent

Daniel Leightley, Amanda Bye, Ben Carter, Kylee Trevillion, Stella Branthonne-Foster, Maria Liakata, Anthony Wood, Dennis Ougrin, Amy Orben, Tamsin Ford, Rina Dutta^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Social media usage impacts upon the mental health and wellbeing of young people, yet there is not enough evidence to determine who is affected, how and to what extent. While it has widened and strengthened communication networks for many, the dangers posed to at-risk youth are serious. Social media data offers unique insights into the minute details of a user's online life. Timely consented access to data could offer many opportunities to transform understanding of its effects on mental wellbeing in different contexts. However, limited data access by researchers is preventing such advances from being made. Our multidisciplinary authorship includes a lived experience adviser, academic and practicing psychiatrists, and academic psychology, as well as computational, statistical, and qualitative researchers. In this Perspective article, we propose a framework to support secure and confidential access to social media platform data for research to make progress toward better public mental health.

Original language	English
Article number	1096253
Journal	Frontiers in Psychiatry
Volume	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1096253
Publication status	Published - 10 Jan 2023

Keywords

data protection
Facebook
research ethics
risk
social media

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1096253

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title = "Maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative: Social media data to study youth mental health with informed consent",

abstract = "Social media usage impacts upon the mental health and wellbeing of young people, yet there is not enough evidence to determine who is affected, how and to what extent. While it has widened and strengthened communication networks for many, the dangers posed to at-risk youth are serious. Social media data offers unique insights into the minute details of a user's online life. Timely consented access to data could offer many opportunities to transform understanding of its effects on mental wellbeing in different contexts. However, limited data access by researchers is preventing such advances from being made. Our multidisciplinary authorship includes a lived experience adviser, academic and practicing psychiatrists, and academic psychology, as well as computational, statistical, and qualitative researchers. In this Perspective article, we propose a framework to support secure and confidential access to social media platform data for research to make progress toward better public mental health.",

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author = "Daniel Leightley and Amanda Bye and Ben Carter and Kylee Trevillion and Stella Branthonne-Foster and Maria Liakata and Anthony Wood and Dennis Ougrin and Amy Orben and Tamsin Ford and Rina Dutta",

note = "Funding Information: DL was partly funded by the Forces in Mind Trust (Project number: FIMT/0323KCL), a funding scheme run by the Forces in Mind Trust using an endowment awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund. AB, BC, KT, ML, and RD are partly funded by the Medical Research Council (Grant award: MR/S020365/1) and Medical Research Foundation. BC was also partly funded by the Nuffield Trust. ML was partly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant award: EP/V030302/1) and the Alan Turing Institute. DO receives funds from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR127408 1221154), the Medical Research Council (MR/W002493/1), and Bart's Charity. AO was partly funded by the Medical Research Council (Grant award: SWAG/076.G101400), the Jacob's Foundation and an Emmanuel College Research Fellowship. TF receives MRC and NIHR funding and is supported by NIHR Applied Research Centre for the East of England and the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. RD was also funded by a Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Health Foundation in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences and her work is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2023 Leightley, Bye, Carter, Trevillion, Branthonne-Foster, Liakata, Wood, Ougrin, Orben, Ford and Dutta.",

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AU - Wood, Anthony

AU - Ougrin, Dennis

AU - Orben, Amy

AU - Ford, Tamsin

AU - Dutta, Rina

N1 - Funding Information: DL was partly funded by the Forces in Mind Trust (Project number: FIMT/0323KCL), a funding scheme run by the Forces in Mind Trust using an endowment awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund. AB, BC, KT, ML, and RD are partly funded by the Medical Research Council (Grant award: MR/S020365/1) and Medical Research Foundation. BC was also partly funded by the Nuffield Trust. ML was partly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant award: EP/V030302/1) and the Alan Turing Institute. DO receives funds from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR127408 1221154), the Medical Research Council (MR/W002493/1), and Bart's Charity. AO was partly funded by the Medical Research Council (Grant award: SWAG/076.G101400), the Jacob's Foundation and an Emmanuel College Research Fellowship. TF receives MRC and NIHR funding and is supported by NIHR Applied Research Centre for the East of England and the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. RD was also funded by a Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Health Foundation in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences and her work is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Leightley, Bye, Carter, Trevillion, Branthonne-Foster, Liakata, Wood, Ougrin, Orben, Ford and Dutta.

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Maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative: Social media data to study youth mental health with informed consent

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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