Have you heard of doomscrolling? It was coined during the COVID-19 pandemic to describe the phenomenon of the rise in negative feelings  after viewing pandemic-related media. 

In this episode Professor Matthew Prices discusses his research on the negative association between daily social media consumption and mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. His study found that regularly viewing pandemic-related social media was associated with an increase in psychopathology, particularly for those with already had existing vulnerabilities.

Matthew Price is the George W. Albee Green and Gold Professor at the University of Vermont. He is a clinical psychologist who studies how technology can be integrated into mental healthcare. His work has focused primarily on helping those with histories of trauma and how to extend care to underserved groups. 

Tune in to learn more about what this doomscrolling research from the pandemic tells us about social media consumption today. 

Most young adults use Instagram and Facebook frequently. Social media use is associated with increased negative social comparisons. Negative social comparisons on social media are related to suicidal ideation.

In this episode Professor Elizabeth Spitzer discusses her research on the negative social comparison, suicidal ideation, thwarted belongingness and social media use. In her survey of 456 college students she found a positive relationship between negative social comparison on social media and suicidal ideation.

Elizabeth Spitzer earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University. She has over fifteen publication from her research in suicide prevention and posttraumatic stress disorder. Her focus in suicide prevention has focused on young adults, veterans, and veterinarians. Her paper on the mental health effects of negative social comparison on social media was one of the top ten most downloaded papers from and American Psychological Association Journal in 2022. 

Website: https://www.lizspitzerphd.com/
ESPN Article on Madison Holleran

Canada- https://talksuicide.ca/
1-888-456-4566
Text: 45645
US- https://www.crisistextline.org/
Text 741741

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The Ezra Klein Show
The Teen Mental Health Crisis, Part 1
The Teen Mental Health Crisis, Part 2

Performing random acts of kindness increases the happiness in both the givers and receivers. However, people underestimate the positive value performing a random act of kindness may have. 

In this episode Professor Kumar discusses his recent paper "A Little Good Goes an Unexpectedly Long Way: Underestimating the Positive Impact of Kindness on Recipients" published in August of 2022 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology

Professor Amit Kumar is currently an Asst. Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the Mc Combs faculty, he completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Cornell University and his A.B. in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University. 

Professor Kumar’s research focuses on the scientific study of happiness and has been featured in popular media outlets such as The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, National Geographic, The New York Times, NPR, Oprah Daily, Scientific American, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. 

His scholarly work has been published in many journals including Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Current Opinion in Psychology, Emotion, The Journal of Consumer Psychology, The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General and the list goes on.

w: http://www.kumar-amit.com/