Researchers see link between social networks, possible mental illness

January 27, 2013 9:56am


Could social networking sites such as Facebook be used to determine mental illnesses? Some researchers believe so.

A study by researchers at the University of Missouri found a link between social anhedonia and a decrease in Facebook activity, according to a report on CNET.

Social anhedonia refers to a diminished experience of positive emotion for social stimuli.

"The beauty of social-media activity as a tool in psychological diagnosis is that it removes some of the problems associated with patients' self-reporting," CNET quoted Elizabeth Martin, study leader and a doctoral student in MU's psychological science department, as saying.

She noted questionnaires often depend on a person's memory, which may or may not be accurate.

"By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state," she said.

The CNET report said the study, "Social networking profile correlates of schizotypy," suggests therapists can check patients' Facebook profiles to better understand their mental illnesses.

In the study, researchers analyzed the Facebook profiles and activities of 211 college students who were scored on their social anhedonia, perceptual aberration, and magical ideation, extraversion, and paranoia tendencies.

Researchers found people who score higher on the social anhedonia scale have fewer Facebook friends, fewer photos of themselves, and take longer to communicate.

However, the CNET report said the researchers did not find any link between social anhedonia and the volume of wall posts from friends.



Extraversion, number of facebook friends

The CNET report said the study also noticed a strong positive link between extraversion and the number of Facebook friends, number of self photos, and number of wall posts by others.

"The findings imply that therapists will be able to glean more about patients by reviewing their Facebook activity instead of relying on self-reports," it said.

Jason Goldman, candidate in developmental psychology at USC, said additional research may be needed.

"Still, we may not be too far off from the day when therapists start asking patients to hand over their Facebook profiles... I think it will be a long time before this sort of information can be interpreted systematically and reliably by clinicians," he added. — LBG, GMA News