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Social media recruitment for mental health research: A systematic review
- Source :
- Compr Psychiatry, Comprehensive Psychiatry, Vol 103, Iss, Pp 152197-(2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Background Social media holds exciting promise for advancing mental health research recruitment, however, the extent and efficacy to which these platforms are currently in use are underexplored. Objective A systematic review was conducted to characterize the current use and efficacy of social media in recruiting participants for mental health research. Method A literature review was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO. Only non-duplicative manuscripts written in the English language and published between 1/1/2004–3/31/2019 were selected for further screening. Data extracted included study type and design, participant inclusion criteria, social media platform, advertising strategy, final recruited sample size, recruitment location, year, monetary incentives, comparison to other recruitment methods if performed, and final cost per participant. Results A total of 176 unique studies that used social media for mental health research recruitment were reviewed. The majority of studies were cross-sectional (62.5%) in design and recruited adults. Facebook was overwhelmingly the recruitment platform of choice (92.6%), with the use of paid advertisements being the predominant strategy (60.8%). Of the reviewed studies, substance abuse (43.8%) and mood disorders (15.3%) were the primary subjects of investigation. In 68.3% of studies, social media recruitment performed as well as or better than traditional recruitment methods in the number and cost of final enrolled participants. The majority of studies used Facebook for recruitment at a median cost per final recruited study participant of $19.47. In 55.6% of the studies, social media recruitment was the more cost-effective recruitment method when compared to traditional methods (e.g., referrals, mailing). Conclusion Social media appears to be an effective and economical recruitment tool for mental health research. The platform raises methodological and privacy concerns not covered in current research regulations that warrant additional consideration.
- Subjects :
- Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
lcsh:RC435-571
Clinical Sciences
MEDLINE
Article
Social media
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Clinical Research
Advertising
lcsh:Psychiatry
Research participant
Behavioral and Social Science
medicine
Humans
Psychiatry
Research
medicine.disease
Mental health
Brain Disorders
030227 psychiatry
Substance abuse
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
Good Health and Well Being
Cross-Sectional Studies
Mental Health
Incentive
Mood disorders
Research Design
Family medicine
Recruitment
Psychology
Social Media
Inclusion (education)
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0010440X
- Volume :
- 103
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Comprehensive Psychiatry
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2783491b8c3582f6d42aa74bbf350ab6