# #EverythingSucks: Understanding the bidirectional relations between vulnerability to internalizing symptoms in youth (13-20) and social mediacontent

> **NIH NIH R01** · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $602,171

## Abstract

Project summary
 The proposed research is a longitudinal study in adolescents aged 13-20 years old (N = 1,000) triangulating
(1) ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with (2) concurrent data/meta-data text collected from adolescents’
smartphones using the Effortless Assessment Research System (EARS). The project aims to model the
bidirectional association between the language used on social media and internalizing symptoms. This study
builds on our prior work, the Studies of Online Cohorts for Internalizing symptoms And Language (SOCIAL),
which have focused on (1) adults (21+; SOCIAL-I: N=1,123), (2) late adolescents (SOCIAL-II: N = 6,105),
and (3) individuals with internalizing symptoms being treated with internet based cognitive-behavioral therapy
(CBT, SOCIAL-III: N= 421). The SOCIAL data suggest that language that is cognitively distorted (CD), unduly
negative, rigid, or absolutist, can be detected from passively-acquired social media text. Moreover, CD language
is associated with internalizing symptoms and more likely to be used by late adolescents than their adult
counterparts. Thus, CD language may partly account for observations that social media use are associated with
internalizing symptoms in adolescents.
 SOCIAL-IV extends on SOCIAL I-III by (a) including 13-16 olds to study a more variable (i.e., 13-20) year age
range, (b) with a more diverse sample, (c) using intensive longitudinal self-report data derived from EMA, and (d)
studying all text adolescents produce on their smartphones, including social media content and non-social media
content. The SOCIAL cohorts are based on the idea that by curating large samples that triangulate self-report
with natural language and meta-data from social media, we can improve our understanding of the effects of
social media on mental health, paving the way for future interventions. SOCIAL-IV will help us uncover how CD
language is linked to internalizing symptoms, to study how CD language propagates on social media, and to
explore individual differences in the susceptibility to CD language.
Aim 1 uses dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) to triangulate the intensive longitudinal data derived
from EARS with the intensive longitudinal data derived from EMA. We hypothesize a bidirectional relationship
between CD language and internalizing symptoms. Aim 2 will sample public social posts from SOCIAL-IV
participants to establish whether CD content is more contagious on social media than non-CD content. We
hypothesize that, consistent with our prior data, CD language will yield more engagement than non-CD language.
Aim 3 seeks to explore whether individual differences, including sociodemographics (e.g., being LGBTQ+),
psychiatric symptoms (e.g., co-morbid externalizing symptoms), self-reported social media use (e.g., perceived
impairment), and data and meta-data collected from social media (e.g., follower count), moderate the bidirectional
association between CD language and internalizing symptoms...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11046810
- **Project number:** 1R01MH135502-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Johan L. Bollen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $602,171
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-03 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11046810

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11046810, #EverythingSucks: Understanding the bidirectional relations between vulnerability to internalizing symptoms in youth (13-20) and social mediacontent (1R01MH135502-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11046810. Licensed CC0.

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