In the digital age, adolescents and young adults increasingly form social connections through online spaces, including social media, gaming and messaging platforms, which serve as venues for identity exploration, peer connection and emotional validation. However, these spaces also create new vulnerabilities, including upward social comparison, exclusion and online harassment that can undermine mental health, including depression and suicidality.
While most research has been focused on adolescents, a new study has found that college students who spend more time online (including social media use, gaming, et cetera) and those who experience online harassment, are more likely to report suicidal thoughts. It also showed that these patterns were not the same across gender groups.
In particular, cisgender men showed the strongest link between time spent online and suicidal thoughts, while online harassment was linked to higher risk across all gender groups. This is one of the few studies to look at both time online and harmful online experiences together, while paying close attention to gender differences.
“As with much of the literature on digital use and mental health, most research has focused on adolescents, leaving college-aged young adults underrepresented. In addition, few large-scale studies have examined how time online and experiences relate to mental health across gender identities, underscoring the need for gender-stratified research in diverse, multisite college samples — our study addresses these gaps,” says corresponding author Seungbin Oh.
The researchers analyzed data from a large national survey called the Healthy Minds Study, which asks college students about their mental health and daily experiences. They looked at answers from more than 46,000 students who were asked how much time they spent in online spaces outside of school or work. They then examined whether students who spent more time online, or who reported being harassed online, were more likely to say they had seriously thought about suicide in the past year. The researchers also looked at whether these patterns differed for cisgender men, cisgender women, and transgender and gender nonconforming students, while taking into account other important factors such as depression, sleep and financial stress.
“One especially important finding was that the link between time spent online and suicidal thoughts was strongest among cisgender men, which differs from much of the earlier research that has focused more heavily on girls and young women as being especially vulnerable to digital harms. We may be overlooking an important mental health risk pattern among young men and that their digital experiences deserve much more public and clinical attention,” adds Oh.
According to the researchers, providers who work with college students and young adults should ask not only about depression and anxiety, but also about online life, including social media use, gaming habits, online harassment and digital stress.
“These questions may help identify students who are struggling but who may not bring up these experiences on their own. The findings also highlight the need to pay greater attention to young men’s mental health, especially because they are often less likely to seek help and may show distress in ways that are easier to miss,” Oh ends.
These findings appear in the American Journal of Public Health.
