Essay: Discuss and analyse face-to-face friendships and on-line friendships, in terms of the prevalence of mental health conditions

The use of digital platforms has become a popular way of interacting with people and more specifically, a way of establishing and maintaining relationships. Recently though, digital platforms (DP) such as Facebook and Instagram and the on-line friendships generated through them, have been connected to diminished psychological health in adolescents especially. This is due to the coinciding increase of DP use and poor psychological health levels (Pantic, 2014). Psychological health is thought to be concerned with an individual’s emotions (Sharma, 2015). This essay will attempt to establish the validity of this connection by referring to other studies that have been conducted. This essay will discuss and analyse face-to-face friendships and on-line friendships, in terms of the prevalence of mental health conditions such as depression amongst DP users, DP users and levels of self-esteem, and addictions to DP.
When considering the relationship between on-line friendships and diminished psychological health for adolescents especially, it is important to understand whether or not there is a correlation present between DP use and therefore on-line friendships, and high levels of depression in particular (Pantic, 2014). Depression is a mental health condition that is predominant amongst the adolescent population, and is a significant indicator of poor psychological health. Depression impacts an individual’s mental state by causing feelings of sadness, distress and loneliness (Sharma, 2015). An increase in levels of depression have been associated with on-line friendships, and therefore an absence of wholesome offline friendships (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). However, it must be noted that the relationship present between on-line friendships and depression is not a causal relationship. There are numerous articles that have further explored the relationship between on-line friendships and depression. Mesch and Talmud (2006) state that for adolescents especially, face-to-face friendships are a form of social support that cannot be achieved through merely on-line friendships. Adolescents who do have these face-to-face social support systems have been shown to have lower levels of depression (Hartup & Stevens, 1997). Pantic (2014) builds upon this idea by further stating an increase in the use of DP to develop on-line friendships results in a corresponding decrease for the individual’s interactions with their personal support network, which consequently results in social isolation and the potential for depression. This implies stronger on-line friendships cause an instability in face-to-face friendships, and this leads to higher rates of depression amongst those who use DP to frequently communicate with others (i.e. adolescents). Contrary to this, on-line friendships have been shown to create a sense of social connectedness that has resulted in decreased levels of depression and improved psychological health (Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan & Marrington, 2013). Turner-August (2014) challenges the positive correlation between on-line friendships and depression as an indicator of diminished psychological health by mentioning most research studies that have investigated this relationship, have failed to additionally investigate the positive correlation between on-line friendships and other indicators of poor psychological health, such as anxiety and self-esteem. This omission demonstrates a lack of validity regarding the research conducted. Despite this, there is a relationship present between on-line friendships and diminished psychological health.
Self-esteem is another indicator of psychological health that is imperative to contemplate when investigating the relationship between on-line friendships and diminished psychological health in adolescents (Pantic, 2014). It is important to understand whether or not there is also a correlation present between the use of DP to generate on-line friendships, and low levels of self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to an individual’s positive and negative perception of their own value (Mehdizadeh, 2010). Mehdizadeh (2010) additionally states that the control of one’s self-esteem is a necessity that every person holds because it acts as a source of motivation, hence why self-esteem is considered a major indicator of psychological health. Although again, the relationship between on-line friendships and low levels of self-esteem is not one that is causal. There is an array of articles that do validate the positive correlation between on-line friendships and lower levels of self-esteem, particularly amongst the adolescent population. Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016) discuss the negative consequences of on-line friendships by referring to the idea of comparison. O’Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson (2011) further describes Facebook in particular, as a DP that is commonly used to post photos of people enjoying themselves and to post status updates sharing great achievements. O’Keefe (2011) and Turner-August (2014) both state that these constant displays of happiness and contentment can force adolescents to compare their own lives with the lives of their on-line friends, resulting in lower levels of self-esteem. When considering the excessive amount of time spent on Facebook by most adolescents, these comparisons are extremely detrimental to their psychological wellbeing.
An addiction to DP is an increasingly common concept that has recently led to a dependency on on-line friendships, and this dependency on on-line friendships consequently leads to the disregard of personal face-to-face friendships (Pantic, 2014). As mentioned previously, this negligence of personal face-to-face friendships is positively correlated with diminished psychological health for adolescents especially. Addiction is a cause of diminished psychological health as it demonstrates several behavioural problems, such as compulsive behaviour and severe over-reliance’s (LaRose & Eastin, 2004). DP and its addictive nature is extremely problematic for adolescents. Adolescents feel this excessive necessity to maintain on-line friendships as a means of avoiding a Fear of Missing Out or FOMO, consequently preventing the maintenance of face-to-face friendships (Sharma, 2015). This does result in poorer levels of psychological health in adolescents, nevertheless the relationship is not causal. The study presented by Sharma (2015) involves a modified FOMO scale and a modified addiction scale. Both of these scales present items that demonstrate notions of an over-focus on on-line friendships, feelings of anxiety when DP isn’t used to maintain on-line friendships, and an ignorance of face-to-face friendships and the subsequent weakening of face-to-face friendships due to the prioritisation of on-line friendships. The items presented show the positive correlation between on-line friendships and diminished psychological health, as a result of DP addiction. Indian and Grieve (2013) conducted a study that showed on average, their participants having 200-250 Facebook ‘friends’ each. Of these participants, 14% said they do use Facebook for more than 3 hours per day (Indian & Grieve, 2013). This shows Facebook as a major generator of on-line friendships and the addictive nature of these friendships. Thus, the time spent by these participants on Facebook to retain their on-line friendships, is essentially considerable time that is not spent retaining their face-to-face friendships. This is detrimental for an individual’s psychological health, particularly an adolescent’s (Hartup & Stevens, 1997). Moreover, this study further validates the positive correlation between on-line friendships and increased levels of poor psychological health as a consequence of addictive DP use.
In modern times, the increasing relevance of DP and the subsequent impact of their use on psychological health is represented by the relationship between on-line friendships and diminished psychological condition. With a particular focus on the adolescent population, the discussion and analysis of face-to-face friendships and on-line friendships in relation to rates of depression, self-esteem levels, and addictions to DP, strongly highlights the positive correlation present between on-line friendships and poor psychological health. Although, existing articles and research studies are overwhelmingly paradoxical in the way they recognise this relationship, especially when considering depression as an indicator of diminished psychological health. Hence, there needs to be a greater stipulation for clearer and more efficient reviews of the currently inadequate comprehension of the association between on-line friendships and diminished psychological wellbeing.