Psychological problems Study Guide

Tandoc, Ferrucci, and Duffy (2015) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between social media use, specifically Facebook, and symptoms of depression among college students. The researchers explored whether comparing oneself to others on social media (social comparison) mediated this relationship. Their methodology involved surveying a sample of college students. Participants completed questionnaires assessing their Facebook usage, levels of social comparison, and self-reported depressive symptoms. The findings suggested that indeed, there was a positive correlation between using social media and experiencing depressive symptoms. Crucially, the study highlighted that this link was significantly influenced by social comparison. Students who frequently compared their own lives negatively to the seemingly perfect lives portrayed by others on Facebook were more likely to report higher levels of depressive symptoms. This implies that it's not merely the amount of time spent on social media, but rather the way individuals engage with it – particularly through social comparison – that contributes to potential negative psychological outcomes like depression. The study is important because it provides insight into the psychological mechanisms behind the potential negative effects of social media, moving beyond a simple cause-and-effect relationship to explore mediating factors.

The social drift explanation of schizophrenia, also known as the 'downward drift' hypothesis, proposes that schizophrenia is not directly caused by poverty or low social class, but rather that individuals who develop schizophrenia tend to 'drift' down the social scale. This means that once a person develops the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as difficulty maintaining employment, social withdrawal, and impaired cognitive function, they may find it challenging to sustain their previous social and economic status. As a result, they may experience unemployment, homelessness, or end up in lower-paying jobs, leading to a decline in their social class over time. This hypothesis focuses on the consequences of schizophrenia rather than its causes, suggesting a correlation between social class and schizophrenia prevalence is due to the illness causing social mobility changes, not the other way around. It highlights how the debilitating nature of the disorder impacts an individual's ability to function effectively within society, leading to a downward spiral in their socioeconomic standing. This perspective is distinct from theories that suggest lower social classes might have environmental factors that predispose individuals to developing schizophrenia. Instead, social drift explains why people with schizophrenia are over-represented in lower socioeconomic strata.