Table 2.
Exposure and outcome assessment and main findings of studies of social media use and depression including sexual minorities published between January 2003 and June 2017.
| Author(s), country, year | Exposure assessment tool | Outcome assessment tool | Aspect of minority stress theory studied |
| Morelli et al, Italy, 2016 [54] | Modified version of the Sexting Behaviors Scale | 12-item General Health Questionnaire | Distal stressors |
| Gibbs & Rice, USA, 2016 [55] | Sample was recruited exclusively from Grindr (overall use was not assessed) | 4-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale | Distal stressors; social support |
| Cenat et al, Canada, 2015 [56] | Item asking, “In the last 12 months, how many times someone has bullied you (rumors, intimidation, threatening, etc) using the internet (Facebook, MySpace, MSN, email, text, etc)?” | 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; item asking, “Have you ever seriously thought of committing suicide?” | Distal stressors |
| Rubin & McClelland, USA, 2015 [62] | Experience of being young, queer, and a person of color in an online network | Consequences of social exclusionary practices within an online network | Distal stressors; proximal stressors |
| Duong & Bradshaw, USA, 2014 [57] | Item from Youth Risk Behavior Survey asking, “During the past 12 months, have you ever been electronically bullied, such as through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, or text messaging?”; item asking, “In the past 12 months, have you ever been bullied on school property?” | Item asking, “During the past 12 months, how many times did you actually attempt suicide?”; “During the past 12 months, how many times were you in a physical fight?” | Distal stressors |
| Homan et al, USA, 2014 [64] | Social network structure graph | 9-item Patient Health care Questionnaire | Distal stressors; social support |
| Lester, USA, 2006 [58] | Sample was recruited exclusively from Bmezine (overall use was not assessed) | Item asking, “How many times have you attempted suicide?” | Distal stressors |
| Cooper & Blumenfeld, USA, 2012 [59] | Item asking, “How often in an average week do you use communication technologies (eg, blogging, chat rooms, and discussion boards)?”; item asking, “How often in the last 30 days have you been harassed based on your sexual identity?” | Not provided | Distal stressors |
| Alang & Fomotar, USA, 2014 [63] | Assessment of the role of an online forum as source of social support | Experience of lesbian mothers with postpartum depression using a dedicated online forum | Social support |
| Ceglarek & Ward, USA, 2016 [60] | Item asking, “How often do you use social networking sites?”; “Which social networking sites do you use?”; “How much these statements apply to you?” Example statement: “I use social networking sites to seek groups of people similar to myself” | 26-item Brief Symptom Inventory | Social support |
| Ramsey et al, USA, 2016 [61] | Cyberbullying; Victimization Scale of the Cyberbullying and Online Aggression Survey | Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Revised | Distal stressors |