What College Students Post About Depression on Facebook and the Support They Perceive: Content Analysis

Background: College students frequently use social media sites to connect with friends. Increasingly, research suggests college students and other young adults seek mental health-related support on social media, which may present a unique venue for intervention. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine college students' perceptions about displaying feelings of depression on Facebook and, in turn, how their social media friends responded. Methods: A primarily quantitative online survey with open response questions was distributed to students at four US universities. Qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis. Results: A total of 34 students provided qualitative responses for analysis, these students were 85.3% female, mean age 20.2 (SD=1.4) and 20.6% racial/ethnic minority. Students who reported posting about depression often expressed an emotion or feeling but did not use the word "depression" in the post. Approximately 20% posted language about a bad day, and 15% posted a song or music video. Only one person reported posting a statement that directly asked for help. When friends responded to the posts, students generally perceived the responses as supportive or motivating gestures. Nearly 15% of friends contacted the individual outside of Facebook. One individual received a negative response and no responses suggested that the individual seek help. Conclusions: This study found that college students who post about depression often do so without directly referencing depression and that friends were generally supportive. However, no participants reported their social network suggested they seek help, which may suggest increasing mental health literacy, for both support seekers and responders, would be an opportunity to improve online mental health-related support.