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Beginning around 2011, there have been increases in mental health issues among teens and young adults. A possible reason for this rise has been the growth of social media through electronic communication; therefore, this study examined social media usage and suicide among undergraduates. An online survey was developed and after Institutional Review Board approval, was completed by 506 undergraduates (67.9% female, 32.1% male) at 23 southeastern and midwestern higher education institutions. Among these undergraduates, it was found that 24% thought about suicide in the past year and 4.2% had actually attempted to kill themselves. Those who considered killing themselves in the past year were significantly more likely to feel the need to compare themselves to others when browsing social media (p<.0001), felt their life was worse than others based on what they saw on social media (p<.0001), and had feelings of sadness or suicidal thoughts after browsing social media (p<.0001) compared to those who had not thought of suicide. Undergraduates who had attempted suicide in the past year were more likely to feel their self-image was negatively affected by interaction with social media websites (p<.05) and also had feelings of sadness or suicidal thoughts after browsing social media (p<.05) compared to those who had not attempted suicide. Females were more likely than males to report negative effects of browsing social media (p<.001). These significant associations between suicidal thoughts and social media usage should be studied further to better devise health education and advocacy campaigns among this population. Introduction Mental Health Mental health includes a plethora of different feelings, behaviors, and emotions. It is defined as an individual’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2017). Genetics, environment, lifestyle, and many other factors come into play with each individual’s state of mental health. Depression and suicide are two areas that fall under the mental health umbrella. Depression is defined as a mood disorder that affects the brain and includes symptoms such as intense feelings of sadness, energy loss, and thoughts of death or suicide (USDHHS, 2017). Oftentimes, depression serves as a mood disorder that leads to suiciderelated behaviors. Suicide is the intentional taking of one’s own life and a suicide attempt is when the act or instance of taking one’s own life does not result in death but only results in self-harm (Gregory, 2020). Occurrences of mental health disturbances are high among adults. In 2016, 44.7 million adults were diagnosed with a mental health disorder Volume 10 Issue 1 (2021) ISSN: 2167-1907 www.JSR.org 1 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2017). Depression and suicidal tendencies are among those. United States Researchers have reported that 19.1% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2018, 47.6 million people, representing roughly 1 in 5 adults (SAMSHA, 2017). Rates of depression and suicide are both on the rise in our country. According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 1 out of 13 people, approximately 2.9 million individuals, aged 18 to 25 years noted suicidal thoughts (cited by Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016). It should be noted that this is only in reference to reported cases, excluding those that were not diagnosed or confirmed. In 2017, reports show the total rates of suicide have increased by 31% in the last 16 years (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2019). In addition, it is known that many different experiences might play a role in these mental health struggles. For example, how people are spending their spare time has evolved over the years and could be impactful, especially with the introduction of technology. Screen time and Social media United States While technology can be a very useful tool, it can affect an individual’s mental health in a positive or negative way. According to the Australia Health Survey (South Australia Government, 2007), “screen time is defined as the amount of time spent watching TV, including videos and DVDs, playing computer games on video consoles, on a mobile device, or on a computer and using computers for other purposes,” (p. 6). In today’s technology rich society, a common form of screen time use being focused on is that of social media. Social media is defined as the use of screen time exclusively to communicate and interact with individuals through the use of different social platforms (South Australia Government, 2007). The norms of using social media have grown exponentially to the point where it is how billions of people stay connected and get world information daily (“The impact of social media,” 2019). A few examples of social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. According to Smith and Anderson (2018), 88% of adults aged 18 to 29 are using some form of social media. Similarly, it was found that 78% of 18 to 24-year-olds are using Snapchat, 71% are using Instagram, 45% are using Twitter, and 94% are using YouTube (Smith & Anderson, 2018). Researchers also reported that this has increased significantly in the last decade (Perrin, 2015). In 2005, only 12% of young adults reported using at least one social networking site. A decade later, in 2015, 90% of young adults reported using at least one social networking site (Perrin, 2015). Just recently, researchers have noted “Social media and networking platforms have replaced schools and playgrounds as the places where our children spend the majority of their time” (Odgers et al., 2020, p. 498). It is clear that social media has evolved to include many different platforms which are used at very high levels among young adults. Screen time and Mental Health Other investigators have been curious about this steep increase in technology use and the effects of spending time staring at a screen. Results thus far have indeed found that increased screen time is negatively affecting mental health. For example, Twenge et al. (2018), found that spending 5+ hours online a day compared to less than 1 hour increased the likelihood of having at least one suicide risk factor by 71%. Internet addiction was found by researchers to be extremely high and the leading cause of depression, anxiety, and stress (Gupta et al., 2018). Boers and colleagues (2020) research found that increases in anxiety among adolescents are associated with increased use of social media, television, and computers. Lastly, the frequency of social media use has been found to be associated with alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and depressive symptoms (Ilakkuvan et al., 2018). As a result of these findings, the effects Volume 10 Issue 1 (2021) ISSN: 2167-1907 www.JSR.org 2 of screen time and social media on mental health needs to be studied further; therefore, the purpose of this research study was to examine rates of depressed feelings, thoughts about suicide, and how these may correlate with screen time use among undergraduates.

The effects of screen time and social media on depressed feelings and suicidal thoughts among undergraduates