Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Mental Health is an ever-rising concern in the United States, with many people experiencing some form of mental health concerns. One new tool used to fight the mental health crisis has been online content on social media sites. Few studies have been done to see the actual effect of the rise of mental health content and terminology used online, especially through the lens of those who have lived experience. We conducted an online survey via Prolific to gather quantitative and qualitative data from 287 young adults in the United States, ages 18-25, to examine their exposure to mental health content, the perceived accuracy of mental health content, and any self-reported effects on stigma and help-seeking behaviors. Results showed that most participants had frequently been exposed to mental health content, but largely through scrolling rather than intentional searching. Most respondents reported they were either unsure about the accuracy of the content or believed it to be accurate, while at the same time largely reported they had seen mental health terms being misused. Participants reported that overall interactions about mental health were more validating in online spaces than in person spaces. Many reported that online spaces have a normalizing effect, while also criticizing these spaces for feeling fake or incorrect, or for driving comparison. In-person interactions seem to offer greater emotional content, but many reported fears or experiences with mental health stigma. We also saw that those who reported more influence from social media were more likely to engage in a range of help seeking behaviors. There is also a correlation showing that more time spent on social media is related to higher internalized stigma, which could be tied to our data showing that those with more severe concerns often spent more time on social media compared to their peers.

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Faculty Mentor

Renee Galliher

Departmental Honors Advisor

Scott Bates