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Review
. 2021 Jul:87:102038.
doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102038. Epub 2021 May 8.

Social media use and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Jacqueline Nesi  1 , Taylor A Burke  2 , Alexandra H Bettis  3 , Anastacia Y Kudinova  4 , Elizabeth C Thompson  2 , Heather A MacPherson  4 , Kara A Fox  5 , Hannah R Lawrence  6 , Sarah A Thomas  4 , Jennifer C Wolff  2 , Melanie K Altemus  7 , Sheiry Soriano  8 , Richard T Liu  9
Affiliations
Review

Social media use and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Jacqueline Nesi et al. Clin Psychol Rev. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Despite considerable public and scholarly debate about the role of social media in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs), no comprehensive, quantitative synthesis of this literature has previously been undertaken. The current systematic review and meta-analysis examines associations between social media use and SITBs, including suicidal ideation, suicide plans, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). A range of social media behaviors and experiences were identified, including cybervictimization and perpetration, exposure to and generation of SITB-related content, problematic use, sexting, social media importance, and frequency of use. A systematic search of PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, and the references of prior reviews yielded 61 eligible studies. Results largely suggested medium effect sizes for associations between specific social media constructs (cybervictimization, SITB-related social media use, problematic social media use) and SITBs. There was no association between frequency of social media use and SITBs; however, studies on this topic were limited. The majority of studies identified focused on cybervictimization, and results suggested positive associations with all SITBs, with the association between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation stronger for adolescents than adults. Overall, findings highlight the utility of examining specific social media behaviors and experiences, and point to the need for more research in this area.

Keywords: Nonsuicidal self-injury; Self-injurious behaviors; Social media; Suicidal ideation; Suicide attempt; Suicide plans.

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Conflict of interest statement

Statement 3: Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart of literature search
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Funnel plots for effect sizes in the meta-analyses. Vertical line indicates the weighted mean effect. Open circles indicate observed effects for actual studies, and closed circles indicate imputed effects for studies believed to be missing due to publication bias. The clear diamond reflects the unadjusted weighted mean effect size, and the black diamond reflects the weighted mean effect size after adjusting for publication bias. There is no indication of a publication bias for the associations between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation (2a) cybervictimization and suicide plans (2b) or cybervictimization and suicide attempts (2c).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Funnel plots for effect sizes in the meta-analyses. Vertical line indicates the weighted mean effect. Open circles indicate observed effects for actual studies, and closed circles indicate imputed effects for studies believed to be missing due to publication bias. The clear diamond reflects the unadjusted weighted mean effect size, and the black diamond reflects the weighted mean effect size after adjusting for publication bias. There is no indication of a publication bias for the associations between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation (2a) cybervictimization and suicide plans (2b) or cybervictimization and suicide attempts (2c).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Funnel plots for effect sizes in the meta-analyses. Vertical line indicates the weighted mean effect. Open circles indicate observed effects for actual studies, and closed circles indicate imputed effects for studies believed to be missing due to publication bias. The clear diamond reflects the unadjusted weighted mean effect size, and the black diamond reflects the weighted mean effect size after adjusting for publication bias. There is no indication of a publication bias for the associations between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation (2a) cybervictimization and suicide plans (2b) or cybervictimization and suicide attempts (2c).
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