Social media use in adolescent girls with depression: The relationship between social media use purposes, lack of social support, and cyber victimization

Abstract

Objective: Our study examined the relationship between purpose of social media use, perceived social support, and cyberbullying among adolescent girls with or without major depressive disorder (MDD). Patients and Methods: Fifty-two adolescent girls aged 13-18 years with a diagnosis of MDD were recruited. The control group consisted of 51 adolescents who were matched for age and gender. The adolescents completed a sociodemographic form, the Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI), the Social Media Attitude Scale (SMAS), the Cyberbullying Scale (CBS), and the Social Support Appraisal Scale for Children (SSAS). Results: Social media use was significantly higher among adolescent girls with MDD (P<0.001). They had significantly higher social isolation (P=0.006) and cyberbullying scores (P=0.013). They used more social media for social skills (P<0.001) and their perceptions of social support levels were lower than adolescents without MDD (P<0.001). Cyberbullying was inversely related to perceived social support (P=0.015) and positively related to social media use for social competence (P=0.004) (e.g., satisfying the need for esteem). Conclusion: This study suggests that increases in social competence problems and decreases in perceived social support were associated with being a victim of cyberbullying. In depressed adolescents, cyberbullying can be prevented by interventions aimed at promoting social competence and obtaining sufficient support.