Abstract
We aimed to assess associations between parental social media comparison (PSMC)—the degree to which individuals compare their parenting with others on social media (SM)—and depressive symptoms. In March 2018 we conducted a survey of 528 parents ages 18-30 with children under the age of 18. Participants were asked about SM use, PSMC, and depressive symptoms. PSMC was measured with 7 Likert-type items that asked participants the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “Based on their posts, other parents on social media appear to provide a better social life for their children than I do.” Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Multivariable ordered logistic regression models were used to assess the association between PSMC and depressive symptoms while controlling for SM use, parent adverse childhood experiences, parent age, gender, race/ethnicity, relationship status, employment status and household income, age of oldest child, and number of children. The PSMC was internally consistent (α = 0.94). In multivariable models, after adjusting for all covariates, there was 51% greater odds of elevated depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.33, 1.71]) for every one-point increase on the PSMC scale. In conclusion, the PSMC is independently associated with elevated depressive symptoms among parents. Future research should assess directionality of these associations and further explore parents’ experiences of comparison with others on SM.
Highlights
-
We developed a Parental Social Media Comparison scale (PSMC) to assess how parents compare themselves on social media.
-
We found that a one-point increase in PSMC was associated with 51% greater odds of elevated depressive symptoms.
-
This association was apparent even after controlling for covariates associated with depression and social media use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Data are not available now as the larger research study is not yet completed. However, the data can be requested from the corresponding author.
References
Appel, H., Crusius, J., & Gerlach, A. L. (2015). Social comparison, envy, and depression on Facebook: a study looking at the effects of high comparison standards on depressed individuals. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 34(4), 277–289. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2015.34.4.277.
Baker, D. A., & Algorta, G. P. (2016). The relationship between online social networking and depression: a systematic review of quantitative studies. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(11), 638–648. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0206.
Baker, Z. G., Krieger, H., & LeRoy, A. S. (2016). Fear of missing out: relationships with depression, mindfulness, and physical symptoms. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2(3), 275–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000075.
Bartholomew, M. K., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Glassman, M., Kamp Dush, C. M., & Sullivan, J. M. (2012). New parents’ Facebook use at the transition to parenthood. Family Relations, 61(3), 455–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00708.x.
Betton, V., Borschmann, R., Docherty, M., Coleman, S., Brown, M., & Henderson, C. (2015). The role of social media in reducing stigma and discrimination. The British Journal of Psychiatry: the Journal of Mental Science, 206(6), 443–444. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.152835.
Callan, M. J., Kim, H., & Matthews, W. J. (2015). Age differences in social comparison tendency and personal relative deprivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 196–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PAID.2015.08.003.
Chapman, D. P., Whitfield, C. L., Felitti, V. J., Dube, S. R., Edwards, V. J., & Anda, R. F. (2004). Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of depressive disorders in adulthood. Journal of Affective Disorders, 82(2), 217–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2003.12.013.
Child Trends Data Bank (2014). Parental depression. Bethesda, MD. Available at: https://www.childtrends.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/02/indicator_1424856704.4251.pdf.
Chua, T. H. H., & Chang, L. (2016). Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHB.2015.09.011.
Colodro-Conde, L., Couvy-Duchesne, B., Zhu, G., Coventry, W. L., Byrne, E. M., Gordon, S., Wright, M. J., Montgomery, G. W., Madden, P. A. F., Ripke, S., Eaves, L. J., Heath, A. C., Wray, N. R., Medland, S. E., & Martin, N. G. (2018). A direct test of the diathesis–stress model for depression. Molecular Psychiatry, 23(7), 1590–1596. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2017.130.
Corcoran, K., Crusius, J., & Mussweiler, T. (2011). Social comparison: motives, standards, and mechanisms. In D. Chadee (Ed.), Theories in social psychology (pp. 119–139). Wiley-Blackwell, West Sussex, UK.
Coyne, S. M., McDaniel, B. T., & Stockdale, L. A. (2017). “Do you dare to compare?” Associations between maternal social comparisons on social networking sites and parenting, mental health, and romantic relationship outcomes. Computers in Human Behavior, 70, 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.081.
Duggan, M., Lenhart, A., Lampe, C., & Ellison, N.B. (2015a). Parents and social media. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/07/16/parents-and-social-media/.
Duggan, M., Lenhart, A., Lampe, C., & Ellison, N.B. (2015b). Parents and Social Media. Pew Research Center, July, (pp. 1–37). http://www.pewinternet.org/2-15/07/16/parents-and-social-media/.
Escobar-Viera, C. G., Shensa, A., Bowman, N. D., Sidani, J. E., Knight, J., James, A. E., & Primack, B. A. (2018). Passive and active social media use and depressive symptoms among United States adults. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(7), 437–443. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2017.0668.
Fagerland, M. W., & Hosmer, D. W. (2017). How to test for goodness of fit in ordinal logistic regression models. The Stata Journal, 17(3), 668–686.
Fergie, G., Hilton, S., & Hunt, K. (2016). Young adults’ experiences of seeking online information about diabetes and mental health in the age of social media. Health Expectations: An International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy, 19(6), 1324–1335. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12430.
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202.
Gibbons, F. X., & Buunk, B. P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(1), 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.129.
Graffigna, G., Barello, S., & Bonanomi, A. (2017). The role of Patient Health Engagement Model (PHE-model) in affecting patient activation and medication adherence: a structural equation model. PLOS ONE, 12(6), e0179865. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179865.
Gupta, S., & Ford-Jones, E. (2014). Recognizing and responding to parental mental health needs: what can we do now? Paediatrics & Child Health, 19(7), 357–361. https://academic.oup.com/pch https://academic.oup.com/pch.
Hanington, L., Heron, J., Stein, A., & Ramchandani, P. (2011). Parental depression and child outcomes – is marital conflict the missing link? Child: Care, Health and Development, 38(4), 520–529. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01270.x.
Haslam, D. M., Tee, A., & Baker, S. (2017). The use of social media as a mechanism of social support in parents. Journal of Child & Family Studies2, 26(7), 2026–2037. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-017-0716-6#Tab5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-017-0716-6#Tab5.
Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image, 17, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008.
Kalamatianos, A., & Canellopoulos, L. (2019). A diathesis-stress model conceptualization of depressive symptomatology. Psychiatriki, 30(1), 49–57. https://doi.org/10.22365/jpsych.2019.301.49.
Kroenke, K., & Spitzer, R. L. (2002). The PHQ-9: a new depression diagnostic and severity measure. Psychiatric Annals, 32(9), 509–515. https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-20020901-06.
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi.org/10.1046/J.1525-1497.2001.016009606.X.
Lin, L. Y., Sidani, J. E., Shensa, A., Radovic, A., Miller, E., Colditz, J. B., Hoffman, B. H., Giles, L., & Primack, B. A. (2016). Association between social media use and depression among U.S. young adults. Depression and Anxiety, 33(4), 323–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22466.
Lup, K., Trub, L., & Rosenthal, L. (2015). Instagram #instasad?: Exploring associations among Instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(5), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0560.
Luthar, S. S., & Ciciolla, L. (2016a). What it feels like to be a mother: variations by children’s developmental stages. Developmental Psychology, 52(1), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000062.
Luthar, S. S., & Ciciolla, L. (2016b). What it feels like to be a mother: variations by children’s developmental stages. Developmental Psychology, 52(1), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000062.
Marder, B., Joinson, A., Shankar, A., & Thirlaway, K. (2016). Strength matters: self-presentation to the strongest audience rather than lowest common denominator when faced with multiple audiences in social network sites. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 56–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.005.
Marino, C., Gini, G., Vieno, A., & Spada, M. M. (2018). The associations between problematic Facebook use, psychological distress and well-being among adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 274–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.007.
McCue Horwitz, S., Briggs-Gowan, M. J., Storfer-Isser, A., & Carter, A. S. (2007). Prevalence, correlates, and persistence of maternal depression. Journal of Women’s Health, 16(5), 678–691. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2006.0185.
Meier, A., Musick, K., Fischer, J., & Flood, S. (2018). Mothers’ and fathers’ well-being in parenting across the arch of child development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(4), 992–1004. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12491.
Mniszak, C., O’Brien, H.L., Greyson, D., Chabot, C., & Shoveller, J. (2019). “Nothing’s available”: young fathers’ experiences with unmet information needs and barriers to resolving them. Information Processing & Management, 102081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2019.102081.
Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J. (2016). The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social media. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(2), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796015001067.
National Research Council (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) (2009). Associations between depression in parents and parenting, child health, and child psychological functioning. In M.J. England & L.J. Sim (Eds.), Depression in parents, parenting, and children: opportunities to improve identification, treatment, and prevention. (pp. 119–182). National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215128/.
Nelson, S. K., Kushlev, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The pains and pleasures of parenting: when, why, and how is parenthood associated with more or less well-being? Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 846–895. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035444.
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015a). Using social media for social comparison and feedback-seeking: gender and popularity moderate associations with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0.
Nesi, Jacqueline, & Prinstein, M. J. (2015b). Using social media for social comparison and feedback-seeking: gender and popularity moderate associations with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0.
Nomaguchi, K. M. (2012). Parenthood and psychological well-being: clarifying the role of child age and parent-child relationship quality. Social Science Research, 41, 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.08.001.
Pew Research Center (2019). Social media fact sheet. https://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: a nationally-representative study among U.S. young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.013.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L., Rosen, D., Colditz, J. B., Radovic, A., & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010.
Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841–1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014.
Radovic, A., Gmelin, T., Stein, B. D., & Miller, E. (2017). Depressed adolescents’ positive and negative use of social media. Journal of Adolescence, 55, 5–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.002.
Research Now. (2014). Panel quality: our values. Answers to ESOMAR’s 28 Questions. http://sigs.researchnow.com/EU_Emails/UK/14Apr/.../ESOMAR_28_IE.pdf.
Ruthven, I., Buchanan, S., & Jardine, C. (2018). Relationships, environment, health and development: the information needs expressed online by young first-time mothers. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 69(8), 985–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24024.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Yavorsky, J. E., Bartholomew, M. K., Sullivan, J. M., Lee, M. A., Dush, C. M. K., & Glassman, M. (2017). Doing gender online: new mothers’ psychological characteristics, facebook use, and depressive symptoms. Sex Roles, 76(5–6), 276–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0640-z.
Seabrook, E. M., Kern, M. L., & Rickard, N. S. (2016). Social networking sites, depression, and anxiety: a systematic review. JMIR Mental Health, 3(4), e50. https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.5842.
Silberg, J. L., Maes, H., & Eaves, L. J. (2010). Genetic and environmental influences on the transmission of parental depression to children’s depression and conduct disturbance: an extended Children of Twins study. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(6), 734–744. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02205.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02205.x.
Smith, A. R., Hames, J. L., & Joiner, T. E. (2013). Status update: maladaptive facebook usage predicts increases in body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 149(1–3), 235–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.032.
StataCorp. (2018). Stata Statistical Software: version 15 (15th ed.). StataCorp, College Station, Texas.
Statista. (2018). Most popular mobile social networking apps in the United States as of February 2018, by monthly users (in millions). https://www.statista.com/statistics/248074/most-popular-us-social-networking-apps-ranked-by-audience/.
Steers, M. N., Wickham, R. E., & Acitelli, L. K. (2014). Seeing everyone else’s highlight reels: how facebook usage is linked to depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33(8), 701–731. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2014.33.8.701.
Strange, C., Fisher, C., Howat, P., & Wood, L. (2018a). ‘Easier to isolate yourself…there’s no need to leave the house’ – A qualitative study on the paradoxes of online communication for parents with young children. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 168–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.040.
Strange, C., Fisher, C., Howat, P., & Wood, L. (2018b). ‘Easier to isolate yourself…there’s no need to leave the house’ – A qualitative study on the paradoxes of online communication for parents with young children. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 168–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.040.
Tandoc, E. C., Ferrucci, P., & Duffy, M. (2015). Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students: is facebooking depressing? Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.10.053.
Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047.
White, J. B., Langer, E. J., Yariv, L., & Welch, J. C. (2006). Frequent social comparisons and destructive emotions and behaviors: the dark side of social comparisons. Journal of Adult Development, 13(1), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-006-9005-0.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Michelle Woods for editorial assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the Fine Foundation of Pittsburgh. The funder of this research had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; preparation, review, or approval of the paper; or decision to submit the paper for publication.
Funding
This study was funded by the Fine Foundation of Pittsburgh.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
(CRediT): J.E.S.: Conceptualization; Methodology; Investigation; Visualization; Writing- Original Draft; Writing- Review and Editing. A.S.: Methodology; Formal Analysis; Data Curation; Visualization; Investigation; Writing- Original Draft; Writing- Review and Editing. C.G.E.-V.: Methodology; Investigation; Writing- Review and Editing. B.A.P.: Investigation; Writing- Review and Editing; Supervision; Funding Acquisition.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This project was approved by the University of Pittsburgh Human Research Protection Office, and informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sidani, J.E., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C.G. et al. Associations between Comparison on Social Media and Depressive Symptoms: A Study of Young Parents. J Child Fam Stud 29, 3357–3368 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01805-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01805-2