Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 75, October 2017, Pages 527-537
Computers in Human Behavior

Full length article
The stress-buffering effect of self-disclosure on Facebook: An examination of stressful life events, social support, and mental health among college students

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.043Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Stressful life events predict intimate and intentional self-disclosure on Facebook.

  • Facebook disclosure moderates the effects of stressful life events on mental health.

  • Facebook disclosure is positively related to enacted social support on Facebook.

  • Enacted social support on Facebook contributes to increased satisfaction with life.

  • Facebook is a novel and promising venue for identifying people with depression.

Abstract

Stressful life events are viewed as the leading cause of psychological distress. Self-disclosure, however, could buffer the deleterious impact of stress on mental health. Recent studies show that college students are likely to engage in self-disclosure on social network sites (SNSs), but it is unclear to what extent they benefit from doing that. This study examined the effect of self-disclosure on SNSs on young adults’ mental health. Survey data were collected from a probability sample of 560 university students. The results show that people tend to open up on Facebook when in times of stress and that self-disclosure on Facebook moderates the relationship between stressful life events and mental health. Facebook disclosure was also positively associated with enacted social support on Facebook, which led to increased perceived social support, enhanced life satisfaction, and reduced depression. SNSs, therefore, serve as a promising avenue for delivering health care and intervention.

Introduction

Studies have found that most lifetime mental disorders have first onset at the age of 18–24 (Kessler et al., 2005). Mental disorders have accounted for nearly half of the disease burden for young adults in the U.S. (Lozano et al., 2013). In 2015, the prevalence of major depression is 10.3% among U.S. adults aged 18 to 25, much higher than that in other age groups (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016). This problem is more salient in Asian countries. A large-scale survey in Hong Kong shows that the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 21%, 41%, and 27% respectively among first-year university students (Wong, Cheung, Chan, Ma, & Wa Tang, 2006). Among a variety of risk factors, stressful life events have been documented as the leading cause of psychological distress (Watson & Pennebaker, 1989). Daily hassles, traumas, and other stressors can trigger acute physical and mental illness (Kendler et al., 1995). However, openly expressing one's problems and negative feelings could help to mitigate distress and improves mental health (Jourard, 1971, Perls, 1969). Self-disclosure can also elicit social support otherwise unavailable if others do not know about someone's difficulties (Derlega, Metts, Petronio, & Margulis, 1993). Because of its therapeutic function, self-disclosure has been labeled the “talking cure” (Corcoran, 2000).

As the Internet is becoming deeply woven into people's daily life, an increasing number of self-disclosures are taking place in computer-mediated communication (CMC). Social network sites (SNSs), such as Facebook and Twitter, enable individuals to share their stories and feelings instantaneously (Choi & Toma, 2014) and express their support-based needs to a wide variety of contacts (Vitak & Ellison, 2012). In recent years, studies have found that college students are likely to talk about their mental health problems on SNSs (Lewis et al., 2008, Moreno et al., 2011). In evaluating undergraduates' status updates on Facebook, Moreno et al. (2011) found that approximately 25% of the observed profiles displayed depressive symptoms and 2.5% met the criteria for a major depressive episode. While the therapeutic function of self-disclosure has been well documented in traditional studies (e.g., Corcoran, 2000, Jourard, 1971), less certain is whether it still holds in the context of SNSs. In particular, it remains unclear to what extent the public sharing of distress on Facebook contributes to one's psychological well-being.

Social support obtained from online and offline ties can also influence one's mental health. Valkenburg, Peter, and Schouten (2006) found that time spent on Facebook had an indirect effect on adolescents' self-esteem and well-being, depending on the feedback received from their friends. Similarly, Park et al. (2015) demonstrated that failing to get responses such as “likes” and “comments” from Facebook friends can exacerbate users' depression (Park et al., 2015). Therefore, it is important to examine to what extent self-disclosure on Facebook contribute to one's social support and whether social support helps to improve mental health.

Given these limitations in the existing literature, this study proposes a conceptual model to examine the relationship between self-disclosure on SNSs and mental health, marrying the antecedents of SNS disclosures with their outcomes. The first objective of this study is to examine how stressful life events facilitate self-disclosure on SNSs and whether the stress-buffering effect of self-disclosure still holds in the context of SNSs. Since self-disclosure is a multifaceted construct (Wheeless & Grotz, 1976), the different roles of varying disclosure attributes in affecting mental health are taken into consideration. This study also explores the extent to which self-disclosure on Facebook contributes to social support, which in turn influences levels of depression and life satisfaction. Last but not least, the present study delineates the prevalence of depression among university students in Hong Kong and uncovers their sources of stress, thereby providing a context-rich understanding of the implications of SNSs in Chinese societies.

Section snippets

Mental health and stressful life events

Studies have documented stressful life events as a trigger of acute mental illness such as major depression and anxiety disorders (Brown and Harris, 1978, Costello, 1982, Kendler et al., 1995). Stressful life events refer to the socially undesired events “whose advent is either indicative of, or requires a significant change in, the ongoing life pattern of the individual” (Holmes & Masuda, 1974, p. 36). Stressful life events can be related to health, social relations, and environments, such as

Sample and sampling procedure

This study employed paper-based survey for data collection. Using stratified sampling method, the researcher first chose one university from eight universities in Hong Kong and then randomly selected 10 departments. Within each department, two or three middle-sized or big classes with more than 50 students were randomly selected, totaling 17 classes. Prior approvals were sought from course instructors, and alternative courses were used if the instructors refused to participate. Pilot tests of

Results

In our sample, 97.7% of the undergraduate students were Facebook users. As the focal point of this study is self-disclosure on Facebook, the remainder of our analyses was based only on data from Facebook members (N = 560). To answer RQ1, the prevalence of depression among college students in Hong Kong was delineated. PHQ-9 score of 5, 10, and 15 represents the cutoff point of mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms, respectively. As shown in Table 3, 22.1% of the respondents had total

Discussion and conclusion

This study proposed a conceptual model linking the antecedents of self-disclosure on SNSs with its outcomes. Stressful life events were found to facilitate self-disclosure on Facebook, in particular intimate and intentional disclosures. Opening up on Facebook protected people from the slings and arrows of stressful life events and helped people mobilize social support. This study extended the stress-buffering effects of self-disclosure from offline to online settings and presented a

Limitations and suggestions for future research

Despite its contributions and implications, this study has several limitations. First, given the cross-sectional nature of this research, it is impossible to establish causal relationships between the key variables. Depression and life satisfaction are regarde d as dependent variables in this study. However, previous studies have suggested that the opposite might be true – people who are depressed and have low life satisfaction are more likely to self-disclose on Facebook (Ellison et al., 2007

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The author is grateful to Louis Leung, Lo-Ven Hwei, Michael Chan, Barry Wellman, and Ziwei Liu for their support and insights.

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