Observational prospective study of social media, smartphone use and self-harm in a clinical sample of young people: study protocol.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Young people are the most frequent users of social media and smartphones and there has been an increasing speculation about the potential negative impacts of their use on mental health. This has coincided with a sharp increase in the levels of self-harm in young people. To date, studies researching this potential association are predominantly cross-sectional and reliant on self-report data, which precludes the ability to objectively analyse behaviour over time. This study is one of the first attempts to explore temporal patterns of real-world usage prior to self-harm, to identify whether there are usage patterns associated with an increased risk.

Methods and analysis

To study the mechanisms by which social media and smartphone use underpin self-harm in a clinica

SUBMITTER: Bye A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9896249 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature